


Evalaris, the Beautiful World: The Phoenix Kingdom

by Kazuki_Edogawa



Series: Evalaris, the Beautiful World [1]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Character Death, Dark Fantasy, F/M, Far Future, Gore, Heavy Angst, Horror, Human Experimentation, Magic, Major Illness, Mythical Beings & Creatures, Other, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Shapeshifting, Supernatural Illnesses, Trauma, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-02
Updated: 2021-02-12
Packaged: 2021-03-10 02:55:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 21,933
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27843346
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kazuki_Edogawa/pseuds/Kazuki_Edogawa
Summary: In the year of 2162, the world of Evalaris is slowly heading towards ruin. An infectious and incurable disease known as Ikari has been rapidly spreading across the populace in the past few years after the Elemental War, with the Phoenix Kingdom of Lumiae among the few places in Nanto that accept the infected and are in a search for a cure.Akira Satomi is among those that are invited to the kingdom, along with his fairy Himari. He believed that his younger sister would finally receive treatment for her Ikari infection, however, what awaits him leaves a lot to be desired...
Relationships: Original Female Character(s) & Original Male Character(s), Original Female Character/Original Male Character
Series: Evalaris, the Beautiful World [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2038129
Kudos: 1





	1. Prologue: An Unseen Threat

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, my name is Kazuki Edogawa, and welcome to Evalaris! This project of mine will be a huge undertaking, but I will make sure to see through it to the end, and I hope you all can stick around for it.
> 
> See the end of the prologue for further details.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> One of the hooded figures grinned sinisterly and whispered. “It is time to pay for your sins, non-believers.”
> 
> It was time to enact their purging.

**Time: 11:45 PM**

**Location: Nanto - Zenshin, Gijutsu**

**Date: Shonichi 23rd, 2162**

* * *

During a particularly cold winter night in the kingdom of Zenshin, multiple guards have gone on their usual late shifts, scouting most areas to take out potential threats.

However, as prepared as they were, they failed to spot two hooded figures standing on top of the kingdom's walls.

"Hmph. It's about time for us to show these non-believers the consequences of their ignorance." One of the hooded figures spoke in a disdainful tone. "Our main targets are inside Nakamura Laboratories, correct?"

"Affirmative." The other hooded figure answered in a more emotionless tone. "I have made sure everything else has been prepared prior."

"Excellent. It's time to mark… our return~."

The two figures were looking over the tallest building of the entire kingdom, having the appearance of a modernized castle, also known as Nakamura Laboratories.

Screams of pain and agony echoed throughout the halls, with men in lab coats seemingly whispering to each other, as they walked towards the source of said screams.

They reached a thick metal door, with one of the men in white pulling out a small card, before allowing it to be scanned.

"Dr. Yamamoto, identified." A computerized female voice spoke, as the door's lights went from red to green. "Permission granted."

After a few seconds, the metal door slowly opened itself, and the men were greeted to the sight of a man strapped to a surgical table, his body covered in burns and large cuts.

The head scientist starred unflinchingly at the man, a cold analytical gaze studying his writhing agony.

"Patient #217." He addressed him. "I believe you are due for another round of tests."

"P-Please... just end my life already..." Patient #217 choked out, as tears streamed down his face. "T-the pain... it's too much..."

The doctor simply closed his eyes and shook his head. "I am afraid that is not possible." He said emotionlessly. "You do recall the waiver you signed after your family ostracized you, no?"

Dr. Yamamoto approached the patient, brandishing a syringe in hand. "You are now property of Nakamura Laboratory, and your compliance, or lack thereof, in these experiments is irrelevant."

The man's eyes widened in horror, before he began to thrash violently on the table.

"Help me!!!" He shouted in panic, trying desperately to escape his restraints. "Somebody please help me!!!" 

Despite his cries for help, none of the men in the room seemed to even acknowledge the patient. Yamamoto himself simply stabbed the syringe into the patient's arm, injecting its contents into his bloodstream.

"I am afraid that your life beyond these walls has ended." Yamamoto said calmly as the drug slowed the patient's struggling. "Besides, this operation has been approved by the executives of Nanto and Phoenix themselves. By all intents and purposes you are government property, and non-compliance would be considered an act of treason..." 

Moving over to a table, Yamamoto grabbed a surgical knife. "Now if you would, please, be cooperative, we can begin the tests..."

Patient #217's eyes slowly turned glassy, before they widened marginally and then began to cough violently, spitting out blood in the process.

" **_What's happening to me!?_ **" He screamed, as black veins began to grow on his skin.

The doctor pulled away, calmly placing the scalpel down. He then pulled out a recording device from his lab coat. 

"Patient #217 is in critical condition. The Ikari in his cells has now reached the final stage." Placing the device away, he turned his attention to several display screens, each showing detailed diagrams of the patient's organs, including brain scans and heart monitors. He watched as the patient's vitals shut down, succumbing to the infection, studying with an unfeeling gaze.

The patient's eyes widened to the point of blood leaking out of them, before letting out one final cough as he went limp, with his blood slowly turning black upon his demise.

Yamamoto did not peel his eyes away from the monitors, even as other staff were called in to unstrap the corpse from the table, moving the body onto a stretcher for disposal. Once the body was gone, he turned to a junior researcher who had joined him.

"Notify Dr. Ikeru of the patient's passing. We are in need of more subjects if we are to gather more data on the infection."

"R-right away, doctor!" The junior researcher nodded nervously, before stepping out of the room, leaving the doctor alone to his thoughts.

Yamamoto simply bought a hand to his chin, watching the final moments of Patient #217's brain replay on the monitor. The data gathered from this could be useful, but it was not enough. In his final moments, the patient's adrenaline had spiked due to his fear and panic overtaking him, which muddled the results.

They'd need more data to know what they were dealing with here. Preferably this time with subjects who didn't resist as much.

From another room far away from the lab, two men had watched the death of the patient play out on multiple screens.

One of the men simply closed his eyes and let out a deep sigh.

"It is a shame that another one had died so soon." He remarked, before turning to the man next to him. "What do you make out of it, Ranze?"

The other man turned his head from the screens, placing a hand between his temples. 

"Yes. It is... very unfortunate. But if we are to find a cure to this plague we need to keep this going." He said solemnly. 

The man was dressed in a simple lab coat, with a cyan shirt beneath. His red hair, cleanly cut and combed, matched his vivid orange eyes. This was Ranze Ikeru, the Representative of Nanto.

"Indeed we must, now then..." The man nodded, turning his gaze back at the screens.

He was dressed in a black suit and tie, with a lab coat draped over his shoulders. His long, messy silver hair went over his tired purple eyes, as if he never had any sleep in his life.

The man was also known as Simon Lapointe, the headmaster of Phoenix Academy and member of the Phoenix kingdom's royal family.

"M-Master, I-I brought your coffee." A timid voice spoke from behind.

Simon smiled as he seemed to recognize the voice, before turning around to face the source, who was holding a plastic cup of coffee with both hands.

"Thank you, Layla." He took the cup and began to sip. "You may take a break now."

The source of the voice was a tiny girl wearing a simple white dress with blue and silver ornaments, with a pair of wings in the shape of crescent-shaped crystals. She shyly fiddled with her white hair, as she flew onto her master's shoulder.

She was a fairy, a race known for seemingly existing to serve others and to obey any command or request.

Ranze could not help but look at Simon's fairy with an incredulous look, yet his professionalism didn't seem to waver in the slightest.

"You seem awfully...reliant on your companion, Simon." Ranze remarked, seemingly thinking out loud.

"She has served the royal family greatly for decades, especially with her rarity as a moon fairy." Simon responded lightly, turning his gaze to the fairy on his shoulder. "Furthermore, she has remained by my side since I was a child."

Layla blushed at the attention being given to her, but didn't say anything.

"Apologies." He caught himself, his composure unwavering.

The headmaster turned to the representative and asked. "How is your son doing, especially after being given the role of Phoenix's leader?"

"Kurogane is well." Ranze replied simply. "He knows his responsibilities and has readied himself accordingly. I have no doubt he will help lead the next generation to a prosperous future."

"It must be quite pressuring for a young man of his age to be given such a position, don't you think?" Simon mused, before taking another sip from his coffee.

Ranze shook his head. "Kurogane is no average young man."

"He's quite mature for his age, and already has plans for the future of Phoenix. I see no better candidate than him."

The man was quiet for a brief moment, staring at his cup of coffee, while Layla looked at her master in concern.

"He will be making a trip to Chervona in a few days, all by himself." He spoke up, and then looked at the representative. "With the recent monster attacks slowly rising, combined with the possibility of _them_ coming out of hiding, will he truly be fine without a fairy assisting him?"

"Please, let's be realistic." Ranze replied, giving Simon a look. 

"Kurogane is going to simply oversee some procedures. A short trip there and back. His route has been carefully planned as to avoid any dangerous areas." 

He paused. "And please, do not fall for any superstitions, the Cult of Kaisu is now but a memory. The chances of them resurfacing are incredibly low." 

"With how much the Ikari plague has escalated across the four regions within the past few years, along with the discrimination towards the infected, I have my own reasons to remain vigilant." Simon's eyes narrowed, his hand clenching the coffee cup tightly.

"M-Master, please calm down..." His fairy stood up on his shoulder and placed her hands on his cheek.

This seemed to work as he took in a deep breath and sighed, before gesturing Layla to enter his suit’s breast pocket, which she complied with immediately.

"E-excuse me!" The junior researcher suddenly came into the room, looking rather exhausted. "Dr. Ikeru, Dr. Yamamato wants to see you and Mr. Lapointe."

Ranze turned to the junior researcher. His air of stoicism remaining despite his weary state. "Of course." he addressed the researcher. "Tell him we will be right with him."

He turned his head to Simon. "All will be well in due time, my associate." he said calmly. "As long as we continue to push forward, this infection will not last forever."

"Hopefully..." The headmaster trailed off, before finishing the rest of his coffee.

"Follow me." The young man gestured towards the door. "He says you have new patient files to look over and approve."

With that, both men proceeded to leave the room with the junior researcher, all while the hooded figures suddenly appeared on some of the screens as they left.

* * *

A dark-haired woman with black horns was standing next to two large doors, adjusting her black trench coat as her fairy quietly floated next to her.

 _"Where is he?"_ She thought idly to herself, her eyes wandering around her surroundings.

It had been three hours already and her patience was slowly starting to wear thin.

"Amelia, your friend has finally arrived." Her fairy's baritone voice snapped her out of her thoughts.

The woman turned her head to see a man, along with two other fairies, walking up to her.

"You're late, Heikki." She spoke bluntly, crossing her arms.

The man who approached her was fully garbed in a plague doctor outfit. His large metal triangular shield with a crow emblem was shoulder strapped to his back.

"My apologies. Asia and Kaia were having an argument again. You know how it is." Asia, a light fairy, was sitting on top of the shield with a disgruntled face and smoking while Kaia, a weapon fairy, was being carried in Heikki's gloved hands and crying to herself.

She merely nodded and turned to her fairy. "Sergei, transform."

"Right away." Sergei, another weapon fairy, nodded and immediately transformed into a large red spear.

The woman turned to the fully garbed man and said. "Putting aside your lateness, you're fully aware of the task given to us by the headmaster, correct?"

Heikki nodded his head as he gently placed his weapon fairy into his robe, signaling for Asia to move on top of his head. He shifted his body and smoothly put his shield into his left hand.

"To serve as bodyguards for VIPs. I read the brief, and personally, I think we need a larger security detail for the person we're protecting."

The child-like light fairy crossed both her arms and legs together.

"Personally, we're all this pompous bastard needs, Heikki." She sharply said as she puffed out a cloud of smoke. "If not, Toivo will fix everything for you...again."

Amelia closed her eyes and said, "The headmaster is concerned at the possibility of the Cult of Kaisu launching a sudden attack after many years of hiding, which I can somewhat understand."

The woman opened her eyes and turned to him. "Furthermore, I've been hearing rumors about them being the ones responsible for recent monster attacks on multiple cities throughout Nanto, have you encountered anything of the sort in your past extermination missions?"

Heikki crossed his right arm to his left as he cocked his head slightly, forcing Asia to float over his left shoulder.

"...Between Toivo and I, we can't confirm or deny that they had any involvement. Though, we have noticed the quality and size of the packs of monsters and even the strategic placement of where they attack. The volume of attacks is a concern, and if it's them...we are going to need more men...no, correction. Stronger people."

When he finished, Kaia poked her head out from underneath his robes.

"Um...I'm speaking for myself, but the rumor mill around the fairies told me that the Cult has recruited...very special members among their ranks...I don't know about them in detail, sorry to say."

Amelia frowned and looked at the ground, before letting out a deep sigh.

"I hear that the headmaster plans for you to become a homeroom teacher to new students for Phoenix Academy." She spoke up, deciding to change the topic.

Asia stopped smoking to look at Heikki as her twin looked up from the robe.

Heikki nonchalantly nodded his head as he dropped his arms.

"Not quite. I've already been assigned to do that. Paperwork is done and everything. I usually believe in the Headmaster's decision making, but not this one. Taking care of family members and rescuing people does not translate to teaching an entire classroom of green horns." The masked man pointed to his two fairies. "These two children are already a handful." 

Asia huffed a cloud of smoke into Heikki's mask.

"Do you want Toivo to teach for you then? I think childhood trauma is the last thing anyone wants." Heikki gave Asia a quick glance for stating.

"I may not be the best at teaching, but I can at least show them the reality of things." Asia seemed visibly distraught.

"That's still childhood trauma, you half-baked doctor!" Kaia silently went back into the robe to giggle to herself.

The dark-haired woman smiled slightly for a brief moment, before it got replaced by another frown.

"I honestly worry for the headmaster's mental being." She said, letting go of her spear as she crossed her arms. "While I appreciate his determination in finding a cure for Ikari, the methods he's been using in the past few years have been... distasteful..."

Heikki stared blankly at Amelia, with Asia looking away in thought. The man stated, in a lowered tone,

"Personally, I think he's gone so far that if he actually stopped for more humane methods, he would feel like his life's work would have been for nothing."

There was a small silence between them that seemed to last for an eternity, before the woman spoke again as she turned to face the man once more.

"Should things turn out for the worst and the rumors being completely true, I trust that you will be by my side, Lieutenant Ruutikainen."

Heikki stared directly into Amelia's red eyes, even through his darkened lens.

"Captain Silverfletch, I'll be damned if I wasn't your shield. If not, we always have Toivo."

Unbeknownst to them, two other guards from another section had already been killed by the same hooded figures.

One of the hooded figures grinned sinisterly and whispered. “It is time to pay for your sins, non-believers.”

It was time to enact their purging.

* * *

A lone guard and his fairy stood atop a high watchtower, which gave him a view of the entire kingdom of Zenshin.

“Ugh, did you really have to pick the coldest watchtower?” The guard’s fairy complained, shivering to himself.

The guard merely raised an eyebrow and said. “You’re a fire fairy, aren’t you?” He crossed his arms. “Why not just make your own heat?”

“Because it’s too much work!” He whined childishly, floating around his master carelessly.

“Hmph, considering how cold it gets during this winter season, you might as well-” The guard was suddenly interrupted when an explosion went off on one of the kingdom’s walls, much to his shock.

“W-what!?” His fairy stammered, his eyes widened in surprise.

As if on cue, screams began to ring in the air, combined with monstrous roars and more explosions in multiple buildings.

“Fuck!” The guard cursed, immediately activating his bracer.

On the site of the wall’s explosion, an armored guard answered the sudden call on his bracer.

“The kingdom’s walls suddenly blew up, Desclaws are coming your way!”

Before the man could respond, a ten-foot-tall skeletal being suddenly appeared from behind and immediately splattered his body onto the roads.

The smell of blood rose to the beast’s nostrils, sending it into a frenzy of claws and teeth. Two more burst through the wall, ripping the body to shreds and devouring the guard’s entrails, before setting their sights on the remaining guards.

The remaining guards and their fairies were shaking on the spot, letting their fear quickly overtake them.

However, one guard, his fairy, and the now-deceased armored guard’s fairy decided to be brave and charged at the beasts, with his shield raised and his sword ready to attack, while both fairies were preparing charged magic blasts.

"You bastards!"

His attempt, however, was all for naught, as with a single swipe of its claw, the man was knocked off his feet and onto the ground, his weapons clattering away from him.

Before he could react, the Desclaw opened its massive jaws and grabbed the man by the legs, tearing them off and devouring them, its acidic saliva dripping onto his chest. As he opened his mouth to scream in pain, another reared its head back and smashed the man's head open like a grape with its claws. 

“No!” The guard’s fairy screamed in horror, only for her and the other fairy to end up receiving the same fate as two more Desclaws pounced on them, crushing the two fairies instantly.

"Fuck! Run like hell!" One guard immediately dropped his weapon and ran the opposite direction, with his fairy quickly following suit.

This seemed to convince the other guards and their fairies to run away as well, screaming for their lives as they did.

The Desclaws gave chase, more beginning to pour out of the hole in the wall. 

Despite their size, the Desclaws were surprisingly fast, trampling over and picking off the guards and their fairies with ease. Some stopped to devour the corpses of the fallen, others strayed off to rampage elsewhere.

At that point, all hell had broken loose…

* * *

From another part of the kingdom, a group of armored soldiers began to line up their shields, as a horde of Desclaws began to come close.

"Don't let these things get to you!" One soldier ordered, pointing a rifle at the incoming mob of beasts, while his fairy was positioned above his helmet, reciting incoherent magical chants under her breath.

The Desclaws turned to the approaching soldiers, staring at them with their blood-red eyes. They stood, almost at a standstill for a moment, before one of them broke off, charging and letting loose a guttural screeching roar.

"Fire!" The soldier yelled, beginning to fire his rifle at the beasts.

The other soldiers followed soon after, charging at the mob with their shields up and their spears ready to attack.

The Desclaw was riddled with bullets, and one of its massive skeletal arms, hanging loosely by bone and sinew, was shot clean off by a well-placed round. This, however, did not stop the Desclaw, and its jaws found themselves clamped down on a soldier's abdomen, piercing through heavy armor like butter and tearing the man's body in two. 

More Desclaws joined, a few tearing the severed arm of the other Desclaw and gulping down its torn chunks. 

"Oh shit!" One of the soldiers cursed, before raising his shield as another Desclaw charged at him.

The shield blocked the Desclaw's jaws, dazing it for only a moment, before it turned around, its scorpion-like tail colliding with the man and knocking him off his feet.

Another soldier roared and ran at the skeletal beast, with a halberd ready to attack.

The halberd pierced the Desclaws fleshy stomach, and it paused, before turning its long neck to face the soldier, the Halberd firmly lodged in the creature’s stomach. 

It seemed not to care about its injuries as it instead roared at the soldier, its acidic saliva flying out and onto the man’s face.

"Aaaaagggghhhh!" The soldier screamed, letting go of the halberd to clutch his slowly melting face.

The Desclaws began surrounding the soldiers, their rounds seeming to not even faze the creatures as they tore through their ranks, relishing in their bloody carnage.

* * *

From yet another part of the kingdom, soldiers were quickly getting overwhelmed by the number of Desclaws attacking them.

"We need backup!" One soldier desperately cried out, holding onto his broken shield. "There's too many of them!"

Growling, a Desclaw lowered its head towards the soldier, its claws suddenly lashing out and grabbing the shield, swatting it away, sending him stumbling forward, as it slammed its claws onto his body, flattening it.

"I-it's all hopeless, w-we're all gonna die..." One soldier mumbled in despair, dropping his sword.

Before another Desclaw could attack him, a large red spear was suddenly shot at the beast.

The spear pierced the Desclaw in the neck, severing its head and causing its body to limply fall over.

The rest of the creatures simply turned their attention towards the direction the spear came from, snarling in anger.

Amelia merely stared at the beasts before her, completely unfazed by their large numbers.

"Sergei, return." She called out, raising her arm.

Upon being commanded, the large red spear immediately removed itself from the deceased Desclaw and returned to its master's hand.

"Heikki, I will find the ones responsible for the wall's destruction, do help out in the frontlines, if you please?" The woman closed her eyes and turned around.

"Already on it." Heikki lifted his triangular shield at the nearest Desclaw before activating the internal engine that spun the entire shield around the center grip.

He swiftly charged forward, the shield's composition and motion displaced even the powerful attacks of the nearest Desclaw. Its skeletal arm was blasted off to the aside and mangled; when it quickly clamped its jaws at Heikki, he merely braced both hands into the center grip and cracked the full force against its head.

The direct hit completely shredded the skeletal head, sending out bits of bone and meat around in front of the man, but also sending out acidic saliva around himself. Even though his gear simmered, it seemed to provide adequate enough protection.

The full skeleton body fell down unceremoniously as Heikki went off to combat another Desclaw. His light fairy went up high into the air and started flashing brightly a code to rally the troops together and to attract more Desclaws to Heikki's position. 

"W-we're saved!" The soldier that had lost hope moments ago stood up and grabbed his sword, feeling some of his morale return.

"Come on, we need to get the citizens out of here!" Another soldier called out, gripping his weapon tightly as he ran in a different direction.

The remaining alive soldiers decided to follow him, leaving the Desclaws to Heikki alone. 

"Perfect...Toivo! Kaia! You know what to do!" Heikki yelled out as he grabbed his shield with one hand and raised his other hand near his shoulder. Asia immediately dropped down directly behind the peak of the spinning shield as a multitude of Desclaws were charging at the lone man.

Eyes red hot from bloodlust and rage, Asia emitted a blinding light that flickered rapidly because of the spinning shield. The flashing light managed to stun the rampaging monsters in their tracks and confuse them long enough for Kaia to transform into Toivo's weapon of choice; a chainsaw-like implement, except it was more like a giant saw blade with a long shaft.

A giggling sound could be heard from the man that erupted into laughter as he swung the chainsaw and activated the motor to engage the spinning action. 

"Hello, Kaia~!" The masked man gave the fairy an air kiss. "You may have been at my side all along, but I missed you! Yes, I did!" As the deranged man was coddling his weapon, the Desclaws regained consciousness. Although they closed the distance quickly, and in spite of both the shield and the long saw weighing him down, Toivo nimbly dodged the sweeping slashes and deafening chomps of the multiple Desclaws that attacked him together.

It was like a dance to Toivo, to the point that when the Desclaws started to get in each other's way, he grabbed the shoulder straps to Heikki's shield, turned on his heels, then launched the shield as it was spinning with Asia still in it.

The large metal projectile slashed apart several Desclaws cleanly as it hovered away up into the air. Though it cleanly took out two, and severely maimed several more, it was a mere set back as some of the remaining Desclaw pushed forward to kill Toivo, but the rest began eating the corpses.

They moved further from each other and started to have a singular Desclaw attack the lone man and waited for an opening.

As the one lone Desclaw swung at Toivo horizontally, the man two-handed his chainsaw and stepped toward the monster and off the centerline away towards the attack. He plunged the saw deep into the creature's abdomen, crushing bone and tearing flesh. The back haft of the handle was also angled to stop the swipe midway, but also severely damaged the joint, and further plunging the saw into the Desclaw.

Toivo laughed with glee as a Desclaw came to its brother's aid by taking the man from behind. Swinging straight down at him, Toivo evaded the attack and allowed his weapon to get hit; causing it to dislodge from the embedded skeleton monster with brute force. Before it could make another move, Toivo grabbed his chainsaw from the very bottom of the handle and smashed the entire weight straight into the offending Desclaw's head. As acidic saliva rained down on him, Toivo maneuvered quickly went directly under the monster, shoved his leg behind its back leg, and brute-forced a sweep that brought the creature to the ground.

The Desclaw he was dealing with a few seconds earlier was reeling for another strike before Heikki's shield came returning back to him. The wheel of death had just blasted through the feeding Desclaw, the Desclaw waiting for an ambush and now just cut the disemboweled Desclaw nearly into two. Heikki's shield finally stopped at Toivo's feet with a tiny fairy covered in blood, in the center grip, vomiting from the ride.

The maniacal warrior raised his arms as he yelled out,

"This amount of blood is not even enough to fix Heikki's shield! Pathetic! The lot of you!"

"Shut up already, Toivo." Asia complained as she lit another smoke. Only then did Toivo casually forgot about the Desclaw he was ripping and tearing. In spite of the fact his saw was still breaking into the monster's skull, he planted his foot down on it to check the pulse. When he discovered a faint heartbeat, the man disengaged the handle from the saw and lifted the polearm mace-like implement before crashing it down into the chest cavity and completely collapsing it.

Toivo gave an extremely satisfied sound of relief.

"Bits and pieces, as they all should be...are you okay Kaia? I didn't dent you too badly, did I?"

Meanwhile, in a different part of the kingdom, Amelia pulled out her spear from yet another Desclaw that dared to attack her, adding to the dozens of Desclaw corpses from right behind her.

She analyzed her surroundings with a narrowed gaze, before activating the bracer on her right arm.

From inside the Nakamura Laboratories building, a six-person group and their fairies were inside a rather empty room, surprisingly not doing anything despite the current situation.

A short boy dressed in a working uniform was growing impatient as he made adjustments to his flamethrower.

"What the hell's taking that woman? I can hear that shitshow outside from here." A calm and collected albino in a brown lab coat was looking through his drone's cameras through his laptop.

"Patience, Rene, the chance of error in this plan is still within a margin of error of 6%." The smaller teen strapped his flamethrower behind him while clicking his tongue.

"I hate it when you bring out your calculations. Okay, fine. But if that margin of error starts creeping up on us, your head's going in a mouth of those Desclaw."

"I-I'm sure the captain knows what she's doing." A pink-haired girl in a gray oversized jacket and a white transparent halo on her head meekly tried to reassure the irritable boy. 

Rene raised an eyebrow at her. 

"People make mistakes, Willow. And according to Eckhart, that mistake is 6%. Especially with Desclaws. You ever deal with those things? Cause I have. And it gets real ugly, real fast."

"Oi, hands off her, you dick." A muscular light fairy glared at the short teen.

"D-Darren, don't be rude!" Willow lightly scolded her fairy, before sending René a look of apology.

"Yes, milady…" Darren quieted himself, scowling at the boy one last time.

"...Now it's 7%," Eckhart remarked blankly.

"Hey now, let's just calm down and hope that the captain gives us the order." A purple-haired poison fairy chuckled sheepishly, floating on top of her master's head.

"I'm gonna need your poison for my flames, Natalya." He didn't bother to look up at his fairy, who visibly deflated at the tone used towards her.

"Yeesh, would it kill ya to take it easy on her?" A silver-haired metal fairy shook his head in disapproval, while Eckhart sighed next to him.

"Everyone! The captain has now called!" A blonde young man with red eyes and a blue trench coat alerted the entire group.

"Thank Goddess for that, it was getting cramped in here." A water fairy with sky blue hair remarked, floating lazily next to her master.

"Hmph. About time." A large muscular man in a gi grunted as he stood up from a chair, while a beast fairy with tiger ears flew onto his right shoulder.

"That woman better still be in one piece." Rene turned the pressure valve on his flamethrower in preparation.

"She's 100% in one piece." Eckhart informed as two of his drones flew around him.

"Sergeant Ueda, Captain Silverfletch is calling for you specifically." The red-eyed young man approached a blonde young woman garbed in military gear.

The woman looked at him. A burn scar on the left side of her face made her seem unnaturally distant and angry for a young woman, however she kept an almost serene air of calm.

“What does she require?” She asked in a low voice.

He wordlessly pushed a button on his bracer and a calm and collected female voice came from it.

"Sergeant Umiko Ueda, this is Captain Amelia Silverfletch, do you read me?" Even from the bracer, her voice commanded attention.

“Loud and clear, Captain.” Umiko responded with a steady and collected voice, even moreso than before.

"Your team shall help out in thinning out the Desclaw hordes outside, while you ensure that Simon Verity and Ranze Ikeru get on the helicopter waiting on the rooftop, do I make myself clear?" Her tone was firm and left no room for argument.

Umiko nodded. “Affirmative. Consider it done.”

With that, the call ended, and Umiko turned to face the others. 

“Listen up, we have been tasked with providing assistance to the guards outside. You are to take out as many Desclaws as possible, clearing a way for Headmaster Lapointe and Representative Ikeru. René, you are to provide covering fire from above. Eckhart, your drones will supply the ground forces and bolster their abilities. Willow, you will tend to the injured and ensure nobody falls. Takehiko, Michael, you two will lead the ground forces on the front lines. Is that understood?”

"Provide covering fire from the watchtower, yeah, I do." Rene responded.

Natalya looked at him and then back at Umiko, before nodding fiercely in agreement.

"My drones are all primed for service, ma'am." Eckhart said as he was gathering his drones that he sent out to sweep the area.

"Anything to help!" His fairy grinned eagerly.

"O-of course, I'll do my best!" Willow, the pink-haired girl, nodded with a determined expression, while Darren merely crossed his arms and nodded.

"You got it, sergeant." Michael, the red-eyed young man, readied his sword.

"You don't have to tell me twice." Takehiko, the musclar man, smirked slightly, cracking his knuckles.

Afterwards, all six members went off to do their specific tasks.

From outside the building, Amelia lowered her bracer and eyed the laboratory building ahead of her, specifically the rooftop.

"Young Amelia, I sense a high amount of magic from where you are looking at." Sergei notified his master while in spear form. "I believe that is supposed to be where the headmaster and representative would be in order to be transported out of the kingdom, is it not?"

The woman remained silent, observing the building even more as she gripped her spear tighter.

"Sergei, get me to the rooftop. Now." She spoke up, giving her weapon fairy a hard stare. "That is an order."

"Right away." The large red spear immediately transformed into a seven-foot tall well-built elderly man, wearing full black tactical armor, with his blade-like fairy wings spreading widely in preparation.

Without hesitation, Sergei proceeded to pull Amelia into a bridal carry and quickly flew towards the direction of Nakamura Laboratories.

* * *

Rene went to man the watchtower, as he secured his flamethrower near the base of it and armed himself with a designated marksman rifle. He awaited to provide aid from his position as Eckhart sat behind him while manipulating his drones to be near the soldiers on the ground.

"Schwarz." The mention of his name was enough for the metal fairy to fly downwards with the drones.

"Hey! What are those?" One soldier asked, pointing at the approaching drones.

The drones proceeded to release an aura that boosted the physical attributes of the surrounding soldiers.

"Whoa!" Another soldier began to feel his strength returning in full force, in spite of being badly injured moments ago.

"W-we're here to help you all!" Willow flew towards the soldiers and began to recite a healing spell.

"Hold still." Darren said lightly, holding out his arms to provide healing for another nearby soldier.

"Step aside." Takehiko walked past the soldiers, focusing solely at the Desclaws from a distance.

"Master…" His beast fairy quickly came up next to him.

"Traehaern, prepare yourself for a fight." The man crossed his arms and glared at the approaching monsters.

Without a word, Traehaern quickly transformed into a fusion of a tiger and a red dragon, much to the awe of some soldiers close to him.

"Shit, they're coming!" A shield-bearing soldier gritted his teeth and prepared himself.

"Don't let them into the building!" Michael called out, pulling out his sword and went into a fighting stance. "Skadi, battle form!"

Skadi, his water fairy, merely grinned and transformed into a warrior reminiscent of a valkyrie, wielding a long silver trident.

“Men, prepare yourselves for a fight!” A large soldier with wolf ears called out, emitting the aura from the drones. “They picked the wrong kingdom to mess with!”

“Yeah!” The other soldiers cheered, emitting the same aura as their morale had boosted from the much needed assistance.

"These things are coming out of the woodwork like damn cockroaches." Rene snided to himself as he took priority shots at Desclaws directly attacking anyone on the ground.

From behind him, Eckhart was silently sending out more drones to different parts of the kingdoms to whatever groups of soldiers he could find.

They all hoped their efforts would end up helping the people of the kingdom, as they began to act on the orders given to them.

* * *

Amidst all the action going on throughout the kingdom, two important men were currently being escorted to the rooftop of Nakamura Laboratories, where a helicopter is waiting there to pick them up.

"Miss Ueda, are you certain that you can protect us alone, in spite of your condition?" Simon asked, his brows furrowing in concern as he stared at the blonde young woman.

Umiko didn’t bother turning to face him, focusing entirely on clearing a path for the men.

“Positive.” She said simply, not bothering to elaborate.

Ranze turned to his companion, sparing an almost inquisitive gaze at their escort. “Interesting.” He noted quietly. “Despite being one of the first documented cases of Ikari, she appears to be in perfect condition...”

The headmaster closed his eyes and said. "I had a dreadful feeling that the Cult would've come out of hiding, but for them to attack now of all times..."

Ranze narrowed his eyes. "Still going on about that?" he said incredulously. "There is no evidence this is the work of a dead cult that hasn't been seen in years."

"A-actually, I do sense some magic from around parts of the kingdom..." Layla timidly spoke up from Simon's suit. "One of which that belongs to a Verander..."

"That could mean anything." Ranze said. "You are aware not every Verander was associated with them, no? A Verander using their powers does not automatically mean Kaisu has returned."

Before anyone could say anything, a Desclaw burst through the hallways before them, with the corpse of a researcher on its feet, as it began to set its sights on the two men and the young woman.

Umiko, with incredible grace and speed, leaped over the Desclaw, landing on its back. She ran across its long neck before delivering a jump kick onto the back of its head, breaking bone and damaging its spine.

"Miss Ueda!" Simon cried out in worry.

The Desclaw swat at Umiko, attempting to bat her away, but she was too quick, evading its massive form with relative ease. She turned her head towards the men.

“Go to the rooftop!” She called out. “I can handle this.”

Simon pursed his lips tightly and then shouted. "Don't push yourself too hard!"

He turned to Ranze and said. "Let's go!"

Ranze nodded, gazing at Umiko for a moment before following him through the building.

Both men worked their way up to the rooftop as fast as they could, knowing the dangers now lurking in their surroundings.

"We're almost there..." Simon murmured, now reaching the doors to the roof, where the helicopter would await him and his colleague...

...However, as soon as he opened the door, he was quickly overcame with dread upon seeing the helicopter in flames, with the pilots dead on the ground.

"...Huh...?" The main said numbly, his widened eyes staring at their only means to escape the kingdom now completely destroyed. 

Ranze’s cool demeanor faltered as he stared at the remains of the helicopter, stunned into silence.

He looked back, hoping Umiko had handled the Desclaw.

In the midst of his shock, Simon spotted two hooded figures staring sinisterly at him, as both of them released a malicious aura.

"Why, hello there~!" One of the figures greeted in a sickeningly polite tone. "I would apologize for the destruction of your means of transportation, but..."

They smiled widely underneath their hood. "...I am afraid to say that this is where both of you will be purged as non-believers~."

"The Cult of Kaisu..." Simon whispered lowly, as his eyes couldn't look away from the hooded figures before him.

Ranze stared with utter disbelief at the two, surprise and fear on his once stoic face.

"Impossible..." Ranze muttered. "Your Cult... it was destroyed!"

The hooded figure merely cackled at his words. "Did you all really think we would go down that easily!?"

Spreading out their arms, they yelled. "After seeing how much our purging had affected your pathetic lives, we merely went into hiding!"

"We saw this as the perfect opportunity to mark our return." The other hooded figure spoke in a more emotionless and calculating tone.

Simon could only stare back at them, his mind slowly processing the words from their mouths.

Ranze's shock turned into anger, as he instantly understood what they meant.

"Purging? You... you animals were the ones responsible for the Ikari Plague?!"

"Kekeke, what happened in the past means very little to us now." The first figure's eyes began to glow red, their smile widening to unnerving degrees.

"Commence purging." The second figure stepped forward, emitting a purple aura.

"Ranze..." Simon spoke warily, gritting his teeth as he took a step back.

Ranze followed suit, though his scowl was clear.

"Tch... These monsters... We played right into their hands... all this time..." His anger and despair were clear, but he was powerless against the two cultists.

"Die." The second cultist proceeded to fire a large purple beam.

However, before it could even reach the two men, a white blast of magic quickly intercepted it, with the beam itself immediately fading out of existence.

"I apologize for being late, headmaster." A female voice spoke out, which Simon recognized instantly.

The man swiftly turned his head to see Amelia and Sergei, with the former holding up her arm and glaring at the cultists.

"We came just in time." Her fairy spoke up, before he looked at his master. "Your orders?"

"Sergei, katana mode." The woman's command was loud and clear, as the fairy immediately transformed into a long silver katana, emitting a pure white aura.

"My former student..." Simon slowly smiled, an expression of pride appearing on his features.

"Amelia." Ranze acknowledged her respectfully, quickly covering up his emotions.

"Your arrival is very appreciated, but I'm afraid we don't have much time for pleasantries. We'll discuss this... revelation, once we are safe."

"Tch. Another non-believer to deal with." The first cultist spat in disgust, deciding to lower their hood to reveal a bald man with his glowing red eyes.

"It appears that she can silence magic, if what she did just now is anything to go by." The second cultist observed, also lowering their hood to reveal a white-haired young man with dull purple eyes.

 _"A Verander and a Porzellan, I must be cautious."_ Amelia analyzed the cultists' appearances, as she prepared herself to fight. _"One misstep with my power, and they will immediately use the opportunity to team up and overpower me."_

The two men watched on with bated breath, looking between the woman and the cultists.

"M-Master…?" Layla spoke up quietly from the headmaster's breast pocket.

"Layla, please survey the area around us, there might be more of them lurking about." Simon narrowed his eyes and sweated, prompting the moon fairy to heed her master's words.

“O-okay then…” She silently flew out of her master’s breast pocket and immediately went above.

Amelia and the two cultists continued to stare each other down, as if to wait for the other to make the first move.

* * *

Meanwhile, soldiers and police alike were beginning to fight more valiantly against the approaching Desclaws, especially with the aura provided by the drones.

Michael was swiftly taking out several at once with his sword at incredible speeds, with Skadi not too far behind him.

"Keep pushing!" One soldier yelled out, pushing back another Desclaw with his shield. "Defend the building at all costs!"

Takehiko looked like he was having the time of his life as he fought Desclaws left and right, completely barehanded, with Traehaern attacking the ones from behind his master to keep him from getting suddenly attacked.

Schwarz, now in battle form like his fellow fairies, was letting out a rain of metal shards on the ones from the distance.

On the sidelines, Willow and Darren continued to tend to the injured soldiers, combined with the drones providing them with more strength.

Rene repeatedly unloaded shot after shot of his rifle at Desclaw's outnumbering the defenders or were on defending allies. His fairy, Natalya, was meticulously adding toxins to the magazines Rene had laid out near him for easier access. Each bullet melted away at the bone armor of Desclaws or hindered their movements.

Midway through reloading, he clicked his tongue,

"Which fucking hole are these things coming from?" After charging the handle, he continued putting shots on target.

"...Unknown. Still searching." Eckhart had separate surveillance drones trying to figure out if there was a compromise in the city's defences.

One officer was about to get back into fighting, until he felt the ground slowly beginning to shake.

"...Huh?" He blinked in surprise, before turning his head. "What is-"

A loud whistling was heard from the sky, as everyone looked up and saw the sky filled with flares descending slowly to the ground until finally, an artillery shell landed on the ground piercing a Desclaw’s bone shell. More shells started to hit the ground, killing more Desclaws and tearing streets off the ground.

Soldiers started charging into the city followed by tanks and weapons crews carrying larger machine guns and artillery pieces.

Amongst the crowd, a large tank had a female commander yelling orders to her men.

“Form a perimeter for the weapons crews and call back to the artillery to sweep the north streets. I want the city served on a plate!”

The surrounding troops shouted back. “Yes sir!”

The troops began jumping on top of the fallen Desclaws and shot at the fleshy openings of the creatures. Some weapons crews set us their heavy weaponry and started firing at upcoming Desclaws trying to get close. Tanks open fired at the Desclaws, shattering them into many pieces, as well as destroying several houses in the process.

"Holy shit!" A sword-wielding soldier cried out in surprise at the sudden assistance.

"Watch out!" Willow called out to another soldier, as rubble began to fall from the now-destroyed buildings.

Fortunately, Michael came to his rescue and quickly pulled him out of the way before he got crushed by said rubble.

"What the hell!?" Another officer's shock gave way to anger at the sudden destruction caused by the newly-arrived troops.

Looking through the scope of his rifle, Rene witnessed the amount of wanton destruction the military had caused. He bit his lip and grunted, "They overdid it."

Eckhart was initiating a healing aura to support injured troops when he commented, "They guaranteed victory with limited casualties." 

Rene shook his head.

"Tell that to the people. They'll jump down their throats for that."

Thunderous artillery continued in the background, as it seemed like it would never stop.

"Hey! We have injured with us!" A shield-wielding soldier said in anger, glaring at the approaching troops.

“A following medic will have you pulled back to the field hospital. If you’re a civilian, we recommend you bunker down in your homes until a relief squad can guarantee your safety.” One of the troops explained without expecting any back talk. “Until then, get out of our way and stay away from the artillery fire.”

A nearby artillery piece fired off into the street, destroying several more small buildings nearby.

"Our homes!" A female officer cried out, seeing more buildings falling apart due to the heavy artillery.

"Ma'am, watch out!" Without warning, the officer was suddenly pushed out of the way by Willow, whose foot ended up being crushed by more rubble.

"Aggghhh!" She screamed out in pain, with the officer looking on in horror before she began to slowly pull out the girl's now-fractured foot out of the rubble.

"Willow!" Michael yelled in worry, before immediately heading over to his now-injured teammate.

"You bastards..." Darren muttered in anger, quickly flying over to his master.

From the watchtower, Natalya covered her mouth in shock at what she had just witnessed.

"R-Rene, one of our teammates just..." She trailed off, not wanting to finish her sentence.

Rene growled in frustration at the scene before him.

"You call that efficient, Eckhart?!" His fairy cowered a bit at Rene raising his voice. "What do the numbers say, Eckhart? What's your calculation on that?!" The albino glanced at the smaller boy and didn't change his expression.

"...It was a guarantee, and the casualties are limited. There was an 87% chance it would have gone much worse than..." As his drone scouted the defensive walls, he noticed a gaping hole. His eyes widened as he accessed his drone's remote communication circuit. "There's a breach at the north-eastern wall. Request immediate support to reinforce the hole."

A tank fired off a shell getting the attention of the soldiers. The female commander was standing on her tank looking down at the scene below.

“What is going on here!” She yelled at the top of her voice.

“General Zhukov. We were making our way to the front. We will double our speed there.” The soldiers report.

“Very well. Charge ahead.”

“Yes sir!” The troops ran ahead and caught up with the rest of the troops.

The woman turned to the people behind her and asked. “And as for you. Care to explain what is going on?”

"One of our teammates got injured..." Michael tensed up, standing protectively near Willow.

Darren followed suit, glaring at the woman before him.

“Very well.” She pulled out a radio and called up a medic. “Medic! I’ve got wounded garrisonmen in need of assistance. Pull them out and have them treated immediately.”

She turned off the radio and looked back to the group. “Your friend will be under my care. You can trust my medics to look after your wounded.”

The woman climbed back into her tank and began to have it charge forward.

As Skadi was looking over what had just happened, all while keeping up her guard in case Desclaws attacked her, she spotted a small white dot flying towards the battlefield.

It took her a moment to recognize the white dot, before her eyes widened in surprise.

"Asia?" The mention of the light fairy had gotten the attention of Schwarz, who was now next to her.

"What is she doing here?" The metal fairy asked in slight confusion.

"Schwarz!" The light fairy coughed up smoke. "My sister and her disjointed master are fighting a fuckton of Desclaws at the giant ass hole in the wall. They need help! Now!"

The two fairies looked at each other, before flying towards where the other team members were.

"Master! The lieutenant needs help!" Skadi grabbed her master by the shoulder and looked at him urgently.

In response, Michael looked conflicted on how he should respond, before Willow grasped one of his hands and smiled at him in reassurance.

"I'll be fine, go help the lieutenant."

The red-eyed young man stared at her warily for a brief moment, before hesitantly facing his fairy with a determined expression.

"Let's go." He nodded, before deciding to grab the attention of his teammates. "Guys! Let's help the lieutenant!"

"I'm already on it!" Schwarz immediately flew towards the watchtower to get his master and the others.

Natalya saw the metal fairy and then turned to her master. "René, can we?"

"What kind of question is that? Of course we can." Rene answered bluntly as he started to stow his magazines.

"I'll grab your flamethrower." Eckhart informed as he slid down the ladder. 

Traehaern saw the other team members beginning to leave, before turning to his master.

"Master..." The muscular man clicked his tongue and closed his eyes.

"Fine."

Michael turned to the officers and soldiers and bowed in apology.

"I'm sorry, but we have something important to do."

"Say no more, kid." A soldier nodded at him, with the others giving similar responses. "We'll be fine."

Before Georgia left, she called out to the group. “You soldiers! Are you garrison?”

The troops gathered around her tank, looking in the direction of the group.

Willow decided to answer for them. "No, we're just members of the Phoenix police on an important job."

“More important than forcing out the Desclaws?” Her tank fired at an approaching Desclaw resulting it a shot going straight through its head and having it land limp in front of her tank.

The pink-haired girl merely nodded in response, feeling confident in her team.

Georgia turned her attention to what was in front of her. “Very well. twenty-five of you men, accompany these police officers to wherever they’re going. Aid them with additional firepower and then report back to me about what has happened. Understood?”

The twenty-five troops in the general area responded. “Yes sir!” They then quickly ran to the aid of the group.

"René, I wonder what the captain is doing right now." Michael mused, as he and his teammates had now gathered up, following Asia's directions. "She said something vague along the lines of finding the ones responsible when she first called me..."

"You must be dense, Michael." Rene quipped. "Captain is probably hunting down the perps who caused this mess."

"Rene is correct." Eckhart interjected. "There is a small margin of error that is the case." 

"I just hope she'll be okay…" Natalya murmured in concern, hiding inside her master's breast pocket.

* * *

 _"It appears reinforcements have finally arrived."_ Amelia thought to herself, feeling the floor shaking slightly.

Explosions mixed with the Desclaws' roars echoed into her ears, as she gripped her blade tighter.

She looked at the cultists before her, seemingly unresponsive to everything around them and rooted to their current spot, much to her growing confusion.

_"Why are they just-"_

This was when she realized her mistake, as she had her thoughts interrupted to barely dodge the Porzellan launching himself at her with a long dagger.

 _"An afterimage!?"_ She gritted her teeth, cursing herself for falling for a simple trick.

"Die, non-believer!" The Verander quickly appeared from behind, grinning madly as he swung down his chained blade.

However, this was something she anticipated as she quickly parried the chains and immediately moved to the side, narrowly avoiding the Porzellan launching himself at her again.

Landing on her feet, Amelia clicked her tongue in annoyance as she glared at the cultists, subtly shifting into a more neutral fighting stance.

"Perish." The Porzellan fired another purple magic blast, while the Verander swung his chain blade once more.

The horned woman quickly dodged the blast and parried the chains, before charging at the cultists.

"Tch." The emotionless cultist pulled out his dagger and moved to attack...

... However, he didn't expect the woman's entire body to emit a white aura, before it proceeded to blind him and his fellow cultist.

Seeing the opportunity to attack, Amelia let go of her weapon to grab the Porzellan by the collar and immediately moved to strike him in the chest.

The young man's eyes widened as the blow ended up being strong enough to send him off the rooftop, leaving his fellow cultist alone with the woman.

"Y-You..." The bald cultist trembled in rage, before moving to swing his weapon. "Die!"

Much to his shock, she effortlessly grabbed the chain, while her katana immediately flew back into her free hand.

Seeing that the cultist froze on the spot, Amelia began to charge at him, with the intent to kill.

"Don't underestimate me!" The Verander roared angrily, letting go of his chained blade to pull out two short swords, before charging at the woman as well.

Both combatants proceeded to trade attacks with one another, with the cultist aggressively swinging his blades at her, while she responded by parrying them and single slashes from her own blade.

The cultist coughed out blood as the attacks from the woman left multiple injuries and wounds on his body, all while he had yet to inflict a direct attack on her.

 _"I must escape her..."_ He began to tap into his own magic, only to be shocked when he found that he was feeling no trace of his power at all.

"The white light I emitted was Anti-Magic." Amelia spoke up, sensing what the cultist had tried to do. "I figured that your powers would be too troublesome if not dealt with sooner."

Despite his powerless state, the Verander glared defiantly at his enemy, before making another attempt to attack her, despite his injuries.

In response, the woman narrowed her eyes coldly and said. "Sergei, restrain him."

Without warning, her katana transformed into the weapon fairy's battle form, as he proceeded to grab the cultist and immediately pinned him to the ground.

Amelia slowly walked towards the now-disarmed and restrained cultist, as her right arm burst into dark magic and pointed it at the bald man’s face.

“Now tell me, what are your cult’s motives behind doing all of this?” Her tone was laced with venom and ready to kill.

The Verander chuckled at Amelia's question.

"Like I would tell someone like you. Even if you torture me, or kill me, that is mercy for someone as low as me. Do what you want, but the gears are already turning, girl. This isn't the first or last kingdom that will see the revival of the Cult. You're only trudging through the testing grounds of our strength; the power of people as low as us."

Unperturbed by the man's response, she knelt down to one knee and said. "Those monster attacks on the cities, it was all of your cult's doing, wasn't it?"

The cultist glared at Amelia. "What do you think?"

Deciding that she had heard enough, she began to charge her magic and aimed it straight at the Verander's face.

"Any last words before I blow your head off?"

"You're too kind." The Verander smirked feverishly. "I welcome it, girl. You and I are nothing but stones to be broken into paving for the Cult of Kaisu."

The horned woman wordlessly blasted a ball of dark magic and the cultist's head immediately blew up into bloody chunks, splattering some of his brains on her and Sergei, who had remained silent throughout restraining the bald man.

Her weapon fairy turned to his master and asked. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." She responded evenly, before her bracer began to go off, which she answered right away. "Hello?"

"Captain, Lieutenant, we managed to block the hole in the city wall for the time being. No more Desclaws are going to enter." Heikki reported, his masked face being displayed on the bracer’s screen.

"I see then, who are you with? I hear Officers Musil and Hertz in the background."

"Everyone else in the squad you directed, Captain." The screen moved to display the two young men.

"Goddamn it." Rene cursed to himself as he laid against the blocked wall. "If we were late by even a minute, I think we would've been fucked. Shit, why do these things have to be so aggressive?"

"Rene, there was a very solid margin of error for this fail." Eckhart remarked. "It was only 12%. There was nothing to worry about as long as the lieutenant held the line." Rene stared back at him and leered.

"That isn't helping." From the corner of his eye, the short teen saw Heikki approach them.

"You two, regroup back with your team and conduct efforts to search and rescue as well as handle any stray Desclaws."

"Aye, sir." Rene groaned as he got up.

"The drones are already ahead of you, sir." Eckhart said as he dragged Rene around to find their team.

Amelia couldn't help but chuckle in amusement. "Glad to know that you're all okay."

"Not quite, captain." Heikki replied. "The repair work on my equipment is going to be a hassle. Removing or replacing acidic corrosion off of a motorized weapon system is not fun."

The woman stood up fully and said. "Before I go, I will say that the rumors about the Cult of Kaisu have been confirmed from my end, I will need you to help me look further into their activities, understood?"

"Understand all, ma'am." Heikki answered.

“Amelia?” Simon’s voice reached the woman’s ears as she turned off her bracer.

“Sergei.” Without a word, her fairy immediately returned to normal and floated on top of his master’s shoulder.

Turning around to face the headmaster and the representative, Amelia scratched her cheek somewhat sheepishly and said. “Please excuse the call I had to make and the rather brutal death that had happened just now.”

Ranze sighed in an almost solemn expression, pinching the bridge of his nose. "It's fine, no fault of your own. But... this is a lot to take in." 

"Regardless, we need to leave, before more arrive."

Simon looked at the woman and asked. "Where is the team I've assigned you?"

"They have managed to block the wall to prevent more Desclaws from coming in, headmaster." She answered, raising her bracer to prove her words.

"I see then, that's a relief." The man sighed, before looking at his moon fairy above, who was still in the air, watching over the rooftop.

Amelia looked around and raised an eyebrow. "Where's Sergeant Ueda? I thought I specifically ordered her to escort you both here."

At that moment, a figure leaped from below the rooftop, landing effortlessly behind Ranze. Ranze momentarily reeled back in shock, before the figure stood, revealing itself to be Umiko. "Apologies." she said simply. "The Desclaw has been eliminated and all hostiles have been cleared from the area."

"Sergeant Ueda, you and I will be meeting up with the rest of the team, understood?" Amelia looked at the blonde young woman with a neutral expression.

“Affirmative.” Umiko nodded, pressing a hand to her earpiece. “The targets have successfully reached the dropoff. All units report to the rendezvous point.”

The horned woman turned to the two men and said. "Another helicopter will be sent to pick up the both of you, but it may take until dawn for it to arrive."

"It is no problem at all." Simon shook his head and flashed his former student a small smile.

Ranze gave the headmaster an incredulous look, before turning to face Amelia. 

“And you’re sure the perimeter has been secured?”

“I-it’s all clear, I don’t see anyone in the area…” Layla timidly spoke up, flying down and landing on top of her master’s shoulder.

The representative merely sighed and simply nodded an acceptance.

Unbeknownst to the entire group, one of the cultists had managed to survive their long fall from the rooftop… 

“I-I must inform the commander…” The Porzellan gritted his teeth, hiding behind an alley to avoid detection.

As soon as he saw that it was clear, he began to slowly limp his way through a spare portal his now-deceased fellow cultist had made for emergencies… 

* * *

From outside the kingdom, the Porzellan was limping his way towards a hooded figure under a tall tree, as he had barely survived falling from the tall castle and had to slowly make his escape undetected, due to his abilities getting sealed by Amelia.

As soon as he approached the figure, he allowed himself to collapse into one knee, and began to bow in regret.

"I... apologize for the failure..." He choked out, struggling to keep his balance. "My companion... had been killed... and I was forced to escape without anyone noticing..."

The hooded figure stood stalwart above the cultist, staring at him blankly and still.

"Raise yourself brother, you did what was needed. He died with purpose, your failure was born of weakness."

The cultist gulped as he kept his gaze on the ground, clenching his fists tightly.

"I-I also... apologize for losing my magic..." He closed his eyes tightly, immediately fearing the worst. "That woman sealed them away..."

"...You encountered someone with that type of ability? Interesting...and you didn't fight her hand to hand? Are you so foolish that you relied on magic alone?"

"My companion and I foolishly believed that we would overwhelm her with our powers alone... until she blinded us and took away our magic..." The young man explained, still refusing to look up from the ground. "Commander, I am no longer worthy to be under your leadership..."

The hooded figure knelt down to the cultist and calmly said,

"Who are you to say you are not worthy? Only I can judge that, and you are not going to atone for your sins by just leaving. You will pay with your body, and purchase your worth back in blood."

He grimaced and slowly looked up at the figure, doing everything he could to bury his fear.

"C-Commander, I..." The cultist trailed off, before quickly finding his words. "What will be my punishment, once we head back to the base...?"

"Why would I tell you? You were surprised by that woman, underestimated her and look at where you are. You will find out when we return." The hooded figure stood up fully, still looking down at the man.

The Porzellan looked down in shame, before he slowly stood up and said. "Very well then, commander."

"Still, to have the ability to seal magic...you did more than enough by giving me this information. Now, let's return back to base to administer counseling."

* * *

**Time: 7:30 AM**

**Location: Nanto - Phoenix, Lumiae**

**Date: Amour 22nd, 2162**

* * *

A month had passed since the fateful night at Zenshin, as Simon was currently going through various files, each with pictures pinned to them.

“M-Master, you have sixteen more medical files to look over.” Layla smiled shyly, as she flew over to the headmaster’s desk, gently placing down a neatly organized stack of medical files.

“Interesting… each of them have great potential for finding a cure…” The silver-haired man muttered to himself, pushing up his glasses as he read through a medical file with a young man with horns.

The new batch of students for Phoenix Academy will arrive in a few weeks, and as such, he needed to get as much information on them as he could, with the gears turning themselves in his head.

While he read through the files, seemingly indifferent to his surroundings, his moon fairy took notice of the elevator doors opening, which revealed Ranze as the representative immediately stepped inside with a less-than-pleased expression.

“M-master, Mr. Ikeru is here…” His fairy’s soft voice snapped him out of his concentration, before setting his eyes on the man before him.

“Ah Ranze, what brings you here?” He questioned with a small smile, closing the medical file as he sat up straight on his desk.

Ranze's eyes furrowed. "Skip the pleasantries, Simon. I have requested updates on my son's status in Chevrona several times and not once have you done anything." He said, his veil of composure beginning to fade. "He was supposed to return weeks ago, and yet I still know nothing of his whereabouts."

Simon closed his eyes and sighed. "I apologize for my recent inaction, I've been busy looking through the medical files of the new students that will be coming in a few weeks." He looked at the man with an apologetic expression. "Furthermore, ever since monster attacks have risen in numbers, communication between nations has been rather difficult."

Ranze raised an eyebrow. "Shouldn't an ambassador and son of a Region Representative be of high priority?" He asked incredulously.

"Inaugurations can wait, but my son's life might be in danger and you have done nothing about it."

The headmaster closed his eyes and seemed contemplative for a brief moment, before he said. "I will send a reserve team over to Chervona and have them guard your son's life until a completely safe method of bringing him back presents itself, would that calm your nerves?"

Ranze nodded. "For your sake, I hope it suffices, though it may be too little too late."

"My apologies, this is the best I could come up with." Simon sighed heavily, before opening the medical file again. "Again, I've been... busy looking through the new students' medical files, and they have potential to bring answers on curing Ikari once and for all, compared to the previous ones..."

“Your devotion to curing Ikari is beginning to affect your other responsibilities.” Ranze said, crossing his arms. “There are other matters needing tending to, and you’re starting to neglect them.”

"I cannot help it, my father ended up catching the disease itself and I intend on finding a cure." The headmaster closed his eyes, before his face darkened slightly. "No matter how much I will sacrifice..."

Ranze shook his head, before lowering his voice. “Don’t tell me you’re seriously thinking about using _students_ as test subjects. You know that the Region Officials wouldn’t approve of that at all.”

"I'm willing to take that risk." Simon replied in a neutral tone, opening his eyes. "Unless a miracle presents itself, I will stop at nothing until a cure for Ikari is finally made..."

Ranze turned to leave, sighing. "I advise you to carefully weigh your options." He said before walking out. "Amelia is not going to be pleased..." he muttered under his breath as he made his way to the door.

Simon watched the man slowly make his way back into the elevator, before returning to the medical file he was reading a while ago.

“Layla, will you please get me some coffee?” The moon fairy, who had remained respectfully quiet a while ago, nodded silently and flew out of the desk and into the elevator.

The headmaster observed the picture pinned to the file, which seemed to be a black-haired girl with silver eyes.

 _"Akira Satomi, age 17."_ He mentally read the file, as he began to read its contents, with his eyes glinting with interest. _"Well, it seems like I'll have a rather interesting case as a student..."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Congratulations for reaching the end of this admittedly long prologue, I have a tendency to not realize the number of words I've written, haha.
> 
> I'm aware that you will be confused by some of the terms used throughout, but I intend on explaining them in the story as I go along, so I kindly ask to be patient and hope that whatever flimsy explanation I have planned will be enough.
> 
> Leaving comments and suggestions down below will be much appreciated, and I'll try to respond to them if I can.
> 
> Thanks for reading~!


	2. Chapter One: A False Peace

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Out of nowhere, another chill went down the young man’s spine as he entered his bedroom.
> 
> Huh…?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah, this took me much longer than it should've, but I managed to release the first chapter! Enjoy~!

**Time: ???**

**Location: ???**

**Date: ???**

* * *

_Akira Satomi was lost, plain and simple. He didn’t know where he was, or what laid beyond the ever encompassing darkness surrounding him._

_His mind was cloudy, and he couldn’t for the life of him remember how he even got here, much less what he was doing here._ _  
__  
__Left with no choice, Akira decided to press on through the darkness, hoping he’d at least be able to find a light source. Yet something in the back of his mind felt off. Very off._

_He couldn’t hear or see anything, but the air around him just felt corrupted, tinged with malice._

_He looked around, and his heart nearly stopped when he saw that, behind him, stood a tall figure, its entire body bathed in a darkness somehow even darker than the shadows around them._

_It smiled, a twisted grin appearing on its featureless face. Before he could even react, with blinding speed, the figure seemed to teleport right in front of Akira, a hand outstretched as if to grab him._ _  
__  
__Instinctively, Akira ran, his body seeming to run on pure adrenaline._

_Something about the figure felt horribly off, as if its very being was made of pure nothingness, pure darkness black enough to consume even the shadows themselves._

_As he ran, Akira turned behind him, and to his horror, the being was following him, moving fast enough to seem as though its movement were mere blurs of motion._

_It stopped in between bursts of speed, simply staring at him with its featureless grin._ _  
__  
__Turning away, Akira focused on the darkness before him, and in the distance, he could make out what seemed like a door, bathed in light._

 _A burst of energy flowed through his body as Akira bounded towards the door, hoping the figure wasn’t catching up to him._ _  
__  
__His arm reached for the doorknob, but as he was about to touch it, he felt an unimaginable pain in his leg, as a tendril of pure shadow wrapped around the limb._

_Falling to the ground, Akira’s body felt deathly cold, as if the darkness was seeping into his very blood. The shadowy figure stood before him, peering down with sadistic glee, as the tendril began pulling Akira towards the figure._

_It seemed to grow to unimaginable heights, the void that comprised its body filling every crevice of the room, and smothering him in darkness until all he could see was that grin._ _  
__  
__Akira tried to scream, but no sound came out. As if the darkness itself was so thick that not even the slightest noise could escape._

_His body paralyzed, Akira could only watch as his vision slowly blurred to nothingness, before everything was bathed by a blinding flash of light._

_"_ **_AKIRA_ ** _!"_

* * *

A young man woke up with a sharp gasp, cold sweat going down his forehead as he breathed heavily, slowly sitting up straight as he did.

His silver eyes cautiously looked around his surroundings, no longer seeing the darkness that once nearly consumed him. All he saw was the familiar sight of his plain-colored bedroom. He looked down at the futon he slept in, noting the sweat that had drenched the white fabric.

Seeing that he wasn’t in any danger, he let out a sigh of relief, running a hand through his long black hair.

It was all just a nightmare.

"Akira?" A soft voice reached his ears, prompting him to turn to its source.

Floating before him was a silver-haired fairy, wearing what resembled a short-skirted kimono with detached sleeves, and sported transparent white and purple butterfly-like wings.

She was concerned for him, he could easily tell from her expression alone.

Akira merely frowned and closed his eyes, processing what he had just experienced.

_"It's that nightmare again…"_

There was no doubt about it, this was the third time this week that this specific nightmare haunted him.

He pursed his lips in thought, thinking over the nightmare and replaying its events over in his head.

_“And then there’s the same tall figure from each of them.”_

What did the figure have anything to do with his current state of mind?

More importantly, did he have any connection with it in some way…?

“Akira, are you okay?” His fairy’s voice snapped him out of his thoughts. “You look pale…”

The young man blinked in response, before he looked away and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

“I’m sorry, Himari…” It was the only reply he could muster.

Himari shook her head and smiled gently, flying over to her master and placing a comforting hand on his cheek.

“If you’re not comfortable with telling me, I won’t force you to.” Her tone of voice seemed to put him at ease, as his posture loosened slightly.

“Akira…!” Another voice called from outside of the bedroom. “Himari…!”

The two doors of the bedroom opened to reveal a woman with dark purple hair who looked like she was in her late twenties.

“Good morning you two.” She smiled, a mug of hot chocolate in hand.

“Likewise, Misaki.” Akira greeted with a neutral tone in his voice. Himari could only chuckle at her master’s tone.

Misaki didn’t seem to take kindly to his response and pouted. "Are you not happy to see me?"

"My apologies, I just woke up." He replied with a hand wave, before letting out a yawn.

Misaki shook her head and smiled again, walking over to the young man and handing him the mug.

“Well, today’s your last day of school before winter break, so here’s some hot chocolate to warm you up for the day.”

Wordlessly taking the mug into his hands, Akira took one small sip of the hot liquid and let out a pleased hum, a ghost of a smile tugging at his lips.

Misaki nodded at the boy's expression and turned around towards the doors. "Better prepare yourself quickly, you wouldn't want to keep Ayaka waiting, right?"

"Of course." He whispered lowly, before hastily drinking the rest of the hot chocolate.

"I will go prepare your uniform, call me if you need anything." With a polite bow, Himari flew towards the doors and left the room, leaving her master alone to his thoughts.

 _"It's just the last day of school,"_ He thought, as he stared at the empty mug. _"I can think about those nightmares at a later time."_

Plus, he wanted to visit his little sister earlier than usual this morning.

With a brief sigh, he slowly stood up from the futon, grabbed a white towel, and headed off to the bathroom.

Hopefully, a nice shower would help him take his mind off of those dark thoughts.

* * *

Akira closed his eyes and allowed the cold water to run down his body, tuning out his surroundings.

 _"I wonder what Yuki is doing today?"_ He opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling. _"She seemed a bit too quiet the other day."_

Was it something that he did? If that were the case, then he would have to talk to her about it and ensure that he'd never do it again.

But then again, she'd always been shy and hesitant to speak to others outside of her circle of close friends, including himself.

Letting out a quiet sigh, the young man stared at his calloused hand, and then turned it around to stare at the faded insignia on his palm, a symbol of a clock with radiant wings. A brand representing the bond he and Himari shared.

Instinctively, he moved his hand towards his torso, his fingers idly tracing the faint scars all over his body. A humorless laugh escaped him.

These scars… He couldn’t help but think back to how he got them… 

He shook his head, there was no point in dwelling on the past, his life was slowly changing for the better and-

_"Beware…"_

His eyes widened. He swore he heard a faint voice in his head. What was that…?

_"Watch the shadows…"_

What was that voice? Why did it feel so familiar-

_"There is something watching you…"_

He grit his teeth and shook his head, attempting to ignore the sudden voice.

It was just his imagination. It was just his imagination. It was just-

"Akira?"

The young man jumped in a mix of surprise and embarrassment, and peeked his head out of the curtains. Himari was floating in the doorway, oblivious to his current anxiety. 

“H-Himari?” He flushed upon hearing his own stutter.

“Your uniform is neatly folded in the sink nearby, I will be waiting outside of the bathroom.”

Akira could only meekly nod in response, and returned to his shower. He heard a small creak from the bathroom door closing, at least he was alone again, he thought to himself.

To his relief, it seemed like the voices had stopped as soon as he heard Himari’s comforting voice. He finished his shower in silence, grabbing his towel when he was done. 

Opening the curtain and stepping out of the shower, Akira’s eyes laid on the school uniform rested on the sink, neatly folded as his fairy had told him.

Today was the last day of school, all needed to do was-

_“Be careful…”_

Hearing the voice once more, the young man narrowed his eyes before ignoring it, trying to clear his mind once more.

…

After a couple of minutes, Akira quietly stepped out of the bathroom, wearing a greyish-white winter jacket over a black gakuran school uniform with dark blue headphones and a grey scarf around his neck and white socks on his feet.

He saw his fairy smiling at him in the hallway as he closed the door behind him, her comforting face easing his tension.

“Zenitsu has prepared a quick breakfast,” Himari informed him. “You wouldn’t want to keep Ayaka waiting, would you?” 

“Not at all.” Was his reply.

She nodded in response and followed her master, as they made their way to the kitchen.

* * *

“Good morning, Akira and Himari.” A muscular fairy with platinum blonde hair greeted, bowing politely as he saw the master and fairy pair enter the kitchen.

“Likewise, Zenitsu.” Akira greeted back, a small smile gracing his features.

“You must be hungry from walking all the way here,” Zenitsu grinned, gesturing to a table with food. “I made ham and cheese omelettes, your favorite.”

“Akira!”

Before the young man could respond, Misaki walked into the kitchen with a rather small box in her hands.

"Misaki, where did you get-"

_"Watch your surroundings…"_

Akira's eyes widened, this time the voice sounded much louder, much clearer. His gaze fell upon the small box in the woman's hands.

“Akira, what’s wrong?” Himari flew in front of her master’s face to get his attention.

The young man ignored her, however, and took slow steps towards the box, his body trembling as he did.

_“Yes…”_

With each step he took, the voice grew in volume.

_"Reality is not what it seems..."_

What was this voice? What was it trying to tell him?

_“Closer now…”_

Why can’t he stop shaking…?

_“All you have to do… is open the box…”_

Open… the box…?

“Akira!” Himari flew towards her master.

Akira seemed to ignore her, his bangs covering his eyes. He gritted his teeth and reached a shaking hand out to the box in Misaki’s hands.

The fairy was confused for a moment, before she sensed a great surge of magic coming from the box.

She narrowed her eyes and clenched her tiny fists.

This magic… Why did she feel like she was familiar with this one…?

Would she be a hypocrite if she said she wanted to know what was inside as well?

Perhaps, a small peek would be-

"I'm sorry…"

Without warning, her master suddenly stopped moving and swiftly turned around, his bangs still covering his eyes.

“I lost my appetite, I’m sorry.” He spoke quietly, not bothering to look up. “Let’s go, Himari.”

“Akira…?” Zenitsu asked slowly, turning to his master.

Misaki gave nothing in response as she watched the young man leave in complete silence.

“Himari, would you please be a dear?” She spoke, her words were loud and clear for the silver-haired fairy.

“Akira! Wait for me!”

As soon as the fairy left the kitchen, the woman let out a long sigh as she stared at the box in her hands.

“Master, what do we do with the box?” Zenitsu questioned, taking off his apron.

“For now, we leave it in my room.” Misaki responded, her eyes turning to her fairy.

She had noticed that there was no named sender anywhere when she first inspected the box.

All she saw was a small note on top of it, which said “For Akira” in Vulpish text.

It only served to arouse her suspicion, as the box seemed to come out of nowhere without warning and was specifically sent for Akira himself.

Speaking of Akira… 

Judging from his reactions, he didn't expect to receive a mysterious box as well.

The way his body trembled and came close to breaking down nearly had her drop the box and check to see if he was okay.

Luckily, he stopped shaking at the last second and calmed down. However, his behavior when leaving the kitchen made her too uncomfortable for her liking.

 _"Now the question is…"_ She thought, idly heading out of the kitchen. _"Who sent him this package…?"_

She would need to do some investigating, and keep the possible contents inside until she knew what she was dealing with.

After all, she promised to keep Akira and Ayaka safe within Sakuhana, and she had no intention of letting the box's contents potentially harm them.

Even at the cost of her own life… 

* * *

Akira and Himari slowly made their way into the small town of Sakuhana in silence, their surroundings draped in a blanket of winter’s snow.

They lived in a medium-sized house in a slightly remote area, only thirty minutes away from the town itself, which didn't make travelling by foot an issue.

As for the master and fairy pair themselves, they were content with not speaking as they walked, knowing that they had each other as company.

Upon entering the small town, they were met with almost empty streets and closed buildings all around. It was as if they were walking into a ghost town.

Walking down a couple of blocks, the pair seemed to find no one around anywhere, save for a few walking into their houses anxiously.

However, neither minded the current emptiness of the town at all, focusing solely on their current path. After all, this kind of environment wasn't anything new to them.

It took them a few more minutes of walking, but they had finally reached their destination.

The Sakuhana municipal hospital was rather quiet like usual, due to the fairly low infection rate around the whole town in its entirety.

"Himari, did you pack her gift in the bag?" Akira asked quietly, staring at the glass entrance.

"Of course, I made sure of it while you were showering." His fairy nodded at him.

"Ayaka, we're here for you." The young man whispered, as he opened the doors and entered the hospital.

The waiting room was almost barren, save for a few and their fairies sleeping on the chairs and a nurse and her fairy working on the counter. On the wall, a small flatscreen television was hung, broadcasting that day’s news.

With a determined nod, Akira approached the nurse on the counter, a young woman with rabbit ears.

"Excuse me, is Ayaka Satomi ready for a visit?" He asked politely, getting the nurse's attention.

"Ah, I would need to check first." She responded in kind. "Please wait over there, young man."

"Okay then." The young man nodded, turning around to approach one of the chairs, his fairy obediently following him as he did.

Settling on a chair away from the ones sleeping, the master and fairy pair made themselves comfortable and began to wait.

Akira sighed and moved his headphones over to his ears, feeling that he was going to be waiting for a while.

On the bright side, the voice in his head seemed to disappear as soon as he left the house, which brought some relief.

Himari opted to sit on her master's head, idly looking around the room until her purple eyes laid upon the television on the wall. Music blared as it suddenly cut to a field reporter.

Curiously, she flew to the television to get a better view.

"Good morning, my name is Satoru Kitagawa." A dog-eared man in a suit introduced himself. "We interrupt this broadcast to bring you breaking news of a sudden rise of monster attacks in the Suelta region."

The television proceeded to show news footage of police officers and guards struggling to defend a village against mobs of monsters of varying appearances.

"Local police have been overwhelmed by the presence of the monsters and have found themselves undermanned and under equipped to handle the issue." He reported as the footage switched to different towns and villages being overwhelmed and burnt down. "Even the assistance of local adventurers and hunters have not decreased the amount of monster attacks." 

The man closed his eyes and sighed. "We recommend our viewers to stay indoors and arm yourself accordingly. The National Guard has been dispatched to handle the situation."

Suddenly, the footage on screen changed to a woman with snake scales holding a microphone towards two formally dressed soldiers with fox features, surrounded by a crowd of reporters asking them questions left and right.

"Peacekeeper Adohira Inazuma and General Nogi Maresuke, what can you say about the current situation?" The snake woman questioned, with a group of cameramen following from behind.

One of the soldiers, a black-haired young man with fox ears, stepped forward as cameras and lights flashed his face.

“Our military is doing everything in its power to aid and work with local law enforcement to drive out the monsters.” He answered with a tone of urgency. "We’ve even entered the field and launched troops on the ground to combat the threat itself.”

"I've had to enter the battlefield a few times to aid groups of adventurers in fending off the beasts." The other soldier, a fox-eared woman with white hair, answered with an air of professionalism. "I've also assisted General Maresuke in a few of those battles."

"Are you both concerned that all of this might worsen the spread of Ikari?" The reporter continued with another question.

"We’ve taken all the necessary precautions to limit the spread of the disease. Currently, several towns and villages have been quarantined and their citizens are going under treatment." Nogi sighed and rubbed the back of his head. "We’re even working with doctors and scientists from Nanto in hopes of finding a cure."

"Unfortunately, a handful have ended up losing their lives." Adohira closed her eyes and shook her head.

The general frowned and placed a hand on the peacemaker's shoulder. “We’re still making progress. We’ve poured more men and resources into finding a cure, limiting the disease and fighting off the monsters. General Wu Peifu is already fighting right now.”

"I hope so, I don't wish for more innocent lives to be lost." The woman looked tired and grimaced at her own words.

"What can you both say to the viewers watching this right now?" The snake-scaled reporter asked one more question.

"I ask you all to remain safe and keep in contact with your loved ones." Adohira opened her eyes and crossed her arms.

“We aren’t beaten yet. We’ve never known to break in times like this and now don’t have the luxury to lose.” Nogi answered with a firm nod.

Afterwards, he turned around and ushered his compatriot away from the crowd, who were then blocked by large soldiers with black horns and tails.

The snake-scaled woman turned to the camera. "There we have it, I also ask all of our viewers to remain calm and stay in their homes during a time like this."

"Thank you, Megumi." The news footage switched back to Satoru. "This just in, the Cult-"

"Hey, you two can visit the girl." The nurse's fairy snapped Himari's focus away from the television.

"O-Oh, thank you." The silver-haired fairy flushed and quickly turned around.

"Jeez, people these days…" The fairy shook his head and flew back to his master.

Himari approached her master, who seemed deep into what he was listening through his headphones.

"Akira, we can see Himari now." She lightly pinched the young man's cheek, with the latter snapping his eyes open in response.

"Thank you." Akira mumbled quietly but smiled nonetheless.

The master and fairy pair proceeded to leave the waiting room and entered the pure white hallways.

Unsurprisingly to them, the hallways themselves were rather quiet and empty, which made the walk to Ayaka's hospital room more comfortable.

After only a couple of minutes, both of them had reached a door with the numbers "025" and a sign that said "WARNING - IKARI PATIENT INSIDE" in Vulpish text.

With a small nod to each other, the pair slowly entered the hospital room, not wanting to potentially disturb the rooms next to it.

Making sure to also close the door slowly behind him, Akira's eyes focused on a little girl resting on her bed in silence, with an expression of peace on her soft features.

"Big brother is now here, Ayaka." He muttered softly, making his way towards his little sister’s bed.

Himari smiled and flew towards the young girl, careful so as to not suddenly awaken her.

The young man affectionately patted his little sister's head, his fingers running through her long black hair, which brought him more comfort.

Both master and fairy always loved the silence, it had helped them many times before in the past.

For them, it felt like an entire hour had passed, simply enjoying the quiet time with Ayaka, who remained softly asleep.

After a few minutes of comforting silence, Akira softly muttered. “Himari, would you please stay in the room with Ayaka?”

The fairy stared at him for a brief moment, before she smiled and responded. “Very well then.”

Suddenly, her entire body glowed a bright white as her tiny size changed into a more human-sized form.

Gone was her long silvery-white hair and shoulder-length light blonde hair replaced it, her purple eyes became sapphire blue, her petite figure morphed with a more mature-looking one, and her short-skirted kimono was switched in place of a white sweater, blue knee-length skirt, black tights, and brown leather boots.

Himari had transformed into her human form.

“Akira dear, aren’t you forgetting something~?” She covered her mouth with a giggle.

The young man blinked in response, until his eyes slightly widened at her words.

“O-Oh right…” He reached into his backpack and pulled out a white fox plushie.

He gently moved forward and placed the stuffed toy beside the resting Ayaka, making sure not to disturb her.

“Just think of me when you find this.” His smile was more visible as he stared at her resting figure.

“My my, you always spoil her with gifts like that~.” Himari teased, grinning at her master’s flushed expression.

"I-I'll have to go now, bye!" Akira turned around and left the hospital room, leaving his fairy to chuckle to herself.

She turned her attention to the sleeping girl and proceeded to pat her head the same way her older brother did.

However, deep down as she continued with her affectionate gesture, she dreaded the day where Ayaka's Ikari infection overtakes her.

After all, prior to the current peace they were having, the little girl was one of her master's only emotional connections that kept him from going over the edge.

If anything were to happen to her…

… No, she shouldn't be thinking of the worst possible outcome, but should anything begin to threaten her master and his little sister, she will be ready to lay down her life for the both of them.

She had failed them before, she did not intend on making the same mistake as last time… 

* * *

Akira ran as he approached a moderately-sized school building, uncaring of his surroundings as he did.

In a small distance, he saw a young man around the same age as him with messy brown hair, medium-sized fox ears, and four fox tails, wearing the same gakuran school uniform.

Floating beside him was a fairy with icy blue spiked hair, wings in the shape of small ice shards, and was wearing a dark blue school uniform top with shorts and boots.

"Ayato? Kei?" The young man asked, slowing down to approach the male master and fairy duo.

Kei, the blue-haired fairy, snapped his head towards him and lightly glared in response.

"Where in the world were you, Satomi?" He crossed his arms. "Both you and master will be almost late for attendance!"

"H-Hey, take it easy on him now, Kei." Ayato, the fox-eared young man, raised his hands towards his fairy. "Besides, it was my idea to just wait here for him."

He turned his head to Akira and smiled apologetically. "You visited your little sister in the hospital, right?"

"Yes." Was his simple response.

"Tch, let's just head inside before you two miss attendance!" Kei flew behind Akira and pushed him and his master through the gates.

Ayato mouthed an 'I'm sorry', as he and his friend were pushed towards the school building.

In the end, the two young men barely managed to arrive on time for their last day of classes.

"Ayato Kusunoki?" The teacher called out.

"Here." He rubbed his arm sheepishly.

"Akira Satomi?"

"Here, sir." He leaned on his desk.

"Excellent, now for our last lesson in Geography…" The teacher turned towards the chalkboard.

The lesson itself ended up being tuned out, as Akira's gaze was focused outside, staring out the window to the side of his desk. He also had his headphones on, drowning out the sound of the lesson with music.

Honestly, he couldn’t care less about classes. He saw no real point in listening, it was the last day anyway.

Still, he had one ear uncovered, just in case something piqued his interest.

Ymir. Nanto. Suelta. Helios.

Kingdoms. Nations. Regions.

Omushiyo. Magic. Races. Representatives… 

He could only make out the familiar words and terms with his free ear, being too absorbed into the headphone’s music to really care.

However, a new thought had suddenly appeared in his mind, which made him clench his fist slightly.

The same nightmare he’s been having for a week.

What were they about? Did they have anything to do with him? What did the figure want out of him?

From what he vaguely remembered, he couldn’t help but feel that the figure in his nightmares looked familiar…

A shiver went down his spine at the thought.

It's sadistic grin.

The way it made his blood run cold.

How it was about to consume him in darkness…

Somehow, it felt all too familiar with him, and it began unraveling deeply repressed memories. A past he had forced himself into forgetting. And then it hit him. 

_“What am I doing…?”_ His hands were shaking and his breathing became ragged. _“Why am I remembering those memories now, of all times…?”_

It’s all in the past. It’s not going to harm him. It’s not going to… enter… his life once… more…

But why?

Why was he letting it bother him so much…?

All at once, he remembered everything. Everything he wanted to forget, memories his psyche had blocked for years.

**XXX**

_A young boy stood on a pile of bodies, all of them clearly mutilated beyond repair._

_The forest surrounding him was burning to the ground, and showed no signs of stopping, yet he refused to move from his spot._

_His eyes were devoid of any life and humanity, unheeding of all the blood that covered him, and looked ready to snap at any moment._

_Behind the boy, a figure materialized, their features indiscernible behind the veil of darkness that permeated their very being._

_“So much destruction, so much bloody carnage.” They spoke, their words echoing in a thousand voices speaking in unison._

_“Tell me, do you take pride in what you have done, boy? Do you look at the sea of death before you and feel a sense of accomplishment?”_

_The boy refused to respond, but his clenched fists and trembling body gave him away._

_“Oh, what’s wrong?” The figure continued, their words dripping with sadistic malice._

_“Don’t tell me you’re feeling_ **_guilt_ ** _over mass slaughter.” They taunted, their words echoing in the boy’s mind._

_“Come now, you know as well as I do that deep down, you enjoyed it. Seeing their faces of despair and agony right before you snuffed out their lives.”_

_"Shut up…” The boy gritted his teeth, his fingers inching towards his scythe._

_The Figure only smiled, their gaseous form slowly circling the boy._

_“The anger in you... I can see it. The raw, unfiltered rage of a confused boy without a place in this world...”_

_A callous laugh came from them, as they came to a stop before him, lifting his chin with their hand._

_“Surely, if anyone found out, you’d be marked as a danger to society. Hunted down and executed like an animal, remembered only as a heartless, insane killer.”_

_Their smile only grew as they spoke, venom in every syllable._

_“But I can offer you a place in this world, a new world. A world where the laws of the old are cast aside, the weak burned away and the strong ruling with unfathomable power. You will leave a legacy of martyrdom, worshipped as a god.”_

_The boy’s eyes widened at the figure’s proposition, before his bangs covered them and clenched his fists tighter._

_Without hesitation, he quickly stood up, turned the other direction, and began to run as fast as he could._

_The figure simply watched as the boy ran, their smile growing ever wider, before they let out a taunting laugh that echoed through the ruined landscape._

_“That’s right, boy, run. Run from your destiny, knowing full well that everything you do will lead you to your inevitable fate.”_

_However, the boy tuned out the figure’s taunting remark, running on pure adrenaline to get as far away from them as he could._

_He refused._

_He refused. He refused. He refused. He refused. He refused. He refuse-_

**XXX**

“Oh my Goddess!”

Akira snapped back to reality, blinking suddenly as he broke from his stupor. He widened his eyes and turned to the source of the sudden voice.

A female student covered her mouth as she pointed at a male student coughing violently. The boy convulsed violently, falling off of his seat and vomiting black blood.

“Holy shit!”

“S-Someone help him!”

“Is he going to die…?”

The teacher from earlier was quick to act, as he immediately moved to the student’s side, his white glove emitting a glow as he placed it over the student’s chest.

He turned to the other male students and shouted. “Boys! Help me bring him to the infirmary!”

Without missing a beat, a handful of the male students gathered around the coughing student and helped the teacher carefully lift him up.

Nodding at the student being safely carried, the teacher turned to the rest of his students in the classroom and said. “Students, classes for the rest of the day are now cancelled.”

The students winced at the boy’s suffering, silently watching him be lifted out of the classroom. Akira in particular couldn’t help but feel his pain. Mid-stage Ikari was no joke.. 

“Poor guy.” Ayato said quietly. “Looks like his infection got worse.”

Kei, floating next to his master, couldn’t help but nod in agreement.

The fox-eared young man turned his attention to his friend, who was looking at the floor.

“You okay?” He asked, placing a hand on the Akira’s shoulder. “You looked really out of it before the poor guy’s infection got to him.”

“It’s nothing…” Akira muttered, lightly brushing off the hand as he stood up from his seat.

After that incident, classes had been canceled for the day.

Without another word, the young man swiftly walked out of the classroom, his hands inside his pockets.

Ayato and Kei looked at each other, staring at the door Akira had left through.

* * *

The school hallways were quiet. Good.

It was a perfect opportunity to clear his head.

Akira was aimlessly wandering the barren hallways, tuning out his surroundings and his headphones turned up to max volume.

His eyes were closed and looked as if he were in a trance.

Just calm down.

Everything that had happened to him was in the past.

Just… relax…

“A-Aki?”

The young man jumped upon feeling someone grab his shoulder from behind.

He turned around and saw two girls, both of whom were wearing black sailor school uniforms and were slightly younger than him.

The first girl sported a slender figure that was typical for her age, with long lilac hair, a whitish yellow halo on top of her head, and bright white wings in the shape of glass shards.

The second girl, on the other hand, sported a mature figure that contrasted her young face, with bright red hair in twin tails, fluffy cat ears, and two cat tails.

Beside the two girls were their fairies. The first one had long silver hair, greyish hard light wings, and was wearing blue overalls and a black tube top, while the other had messy dark purple hair, light green scaled wings, and was wearing a magenta snake onesie.

“Kasumi? Yuki?” Akira asked, slowly taking off his headphones. “Tenma? Makoto?”

“M-My master got concerned and sent me and Tenma to keep an eye on you.” Makoto, the onesie fairy, shyly responded.

“Let me tell ya, you were walking around like some sort of zombie!” Tenma, the overalls fairy, exclaimed.

“S-Sorry…” Yuki, the redhead cat girl, looked away from the young man.

“Plus, I can sense you’re clearly not feeling fine.” Kasumi, the winged girl, crossed her arms. “There’d be no point in telling us that you’re fine when you’re not.”

Akira winced and quietly said. “I apologize for worrying you all…”

He had almost forgotten that Kasumi was a Kados, a race that was fairly known for being able to sense other people’s emotions.

Before he could say anything else, he heard a loud grumble from his stomach, which made him flush brightly.

“W-We can share our lunches with you.” Yuki smiled softly, her tails wagging from behind.

Kasumi merely grinned in a teasing manner, while the two fairies chuckled to themselves.

Without warning, the two girls grabbed his hands and proceeded to pull him towards where they were heading.

The young man sighed, but didn’t protest in the slightest.

…

Akira rubbed his arm as he sat, eating lunch on the rooftop with the girls and their fairies. Ayato and Kei had decided to join them as well.

Well, at least it was better than wandering alone around the school building.

“H-Here, I made this myself earlier…” Yuki presented a bento box filled with rice, salmon, and steamed vegetables.

The young man could only nod in response, allowing the catgirl to feed him her bento box with chopsticks.

“Heh, you two look like a couple doing that.” Tenma snickered to herself.

To the fairy’s amusement, the two teens faced away from each other with noticeable blushes.

“Then again, Yuki has a huge-”

Kei smacked the back of Ayato’s head before he could finish his sentence.

“Huh?” Akira asked, tilting his head.

“Eh, just ignore him.” Kasumi waved her hand dismissively.

Wanting to escape further embarrassment, Yuki quickly asked. “U-Um, how is your little sister doing?”

In an instant, the young man’s flushed expression gave way to one of melancholy.

Ayaka…

He clenched his fist at the thought of his little sister’s condition.

How was she doing at the hospital? Would her Ikari infection remain stable for much longer? What if her infection was already slowly-

“S-Sorry…”

Akira blinked upon hearing Yuki’s apology, before he saw her ashamed expression.

“I-I didn’t mean to ask you something sensitive…” Her words were soft and near-indiscernible, but he had managed to hear them.

Regret filling his gut, he placed a hand on her shoulder and said. “It’s not your fault, you were just asking.”

“I don’t blame you for reacting the way you did, Satomi.” Kei spoke up, crossing his arms. “We all know you’re worried sick for her.”

The others quietly shared their condolences, flashing the young man expressions of sympathy.

Akira couldn’t help but smile slightly. “Thanks, I’m just worried her infection might get-”

His words were cut off as Yuki pulled him close to her and placed his head on her lap.

Before he could say anything, the catgirl gently caressed his head, sporting a blush on her features.

"I-It's the least I can do for upsetting you…" She stuttered, but smiled softly.

The young man found the action comforting and… uplifting, as if his worries and dark thoughts were gone in the blink of an eye.

He was surrounded by his circle of close friends, offering their moral support. It… felt nice…

Yuki heard a yawn escape Akira, but before she knew it, he fell asleep on her lap.

The catgirl's blush became the same color as her hair, but she chose not to say anything.

"Oh my, are you sure that choker doesn't turn you into a good luck Neko~?" Tenma smiled mischievously.

"H-Hehehe, master is so obvious." Makoto chuckled, having woken up from his short nap.

"Come on now, when are you gonna tell him?" Kasumi grinned, leaning towards her best friend.

"Yeah! Kei and I even made a bet!" Ayato laughed, only to get smacked at the back of his head once more.

"Ow!"

"W-What did I say about opening your mouth!?" The blue-haired fairy stammered.

Despite his seriousness, this prompted a laugh from the others. 

Yuki, despite her initial embarrassment, giggled slightly herself.

She turned her attention to the young man on her lap, continuing to caress his long black hair as he slept.

 _"Aki…"_ The red-haired Neko's smile was as warm as her blush.

One day, she would finally express her feelings towards her childhood friend… 

* * *

Time seemed to pass by quickly, as the last day of middle school came to an end.

"Bye everyone, I'll see you all tomorrow." Akira waved at his friends.

"Don't forget to meet up with us at my grandparents' café!" Kasumi grinned, while Tenma lazily sat on her head.

"Yeah! You'll miss their specials if you do!" Ayato smiled, with Kei politely bowing at the young man.

"S-See you tomorrow, Aki…" Yuki waved back at him, while Makoto took a nap on her shoulder.

After a few more exchanges, Akira turned around and began to make his way to the hospital.

He had a nice surprise in store for his younger sister.

It didn't take him long to reach the Sakuhana Municipal Hospital, he had kept a quicker pace this time.

Akira swiftly made his way to the waiting room and towards the nurse's counter.

"Hm? What do you need?" The rabbit-eared nurse asked politely.

"I'd like to make a request." He said with complete seriousness.

…

Himari was reading a manga with Ayaka, who had awakened a few hours ago.

"Are you enjoying this manga so far?" The human fairy asked with a smile.

The little girl nodded at her in response, smiling softly.

Suddenly, the door to the hospital room swung open, her older brother entering with a smile. 

"Akira!" Himari smiled wider, transforming back into her normal fairy form as she flew towards her master.

Ayaka, meanwhile, grinned brightly

"Your big brother is here now." The young man smiled, walking towards his sister.

However, upon reaching her, the girl nearly leapt out of her bed and pulled him into a hug.

Akira looked down and saw her rubbing her face against his chest, showing how much she wanted to see him.

"Okay now, just calm down." He chuckled slightly, pulling away as he sat next to her.

Himari was still smiling as she floated above her master's head.

"Have you been taking your daily medicine for your infection?" He asked gently.

Ayaka nodded in response, although her smile turned into a small frown.

The young man sighed at the sight of his little sister's expression.

Her Ikari infection had damaged her vocal chords, to the point where she is left nearly unable to speak.

Not wanting to see his dear sister frown even more, Akira placed a hand on her shoulder.

"I have something to tell you…"

Ayaka was quick to pay attention to what her brother had to say, which both Himari and her master found quite adorable.

"I'm…" He started, before a fairly large grin appeared on his features. "Staying the night with you!"

The little girl's innocent grey eyes widened at those words, before she leapt up from her bed and hugged her brother again, much warmer than the previous one.

"That's amazing!" His fairy openly grinned, flying towards her master to hug his cheek.

"It took me a while, but I managed to convince the doctors to let me stay the night with you." Akira smiled, hugging his sister back. "I don't want you to be alone in this hospital room."

Ayaka sniffled, small tears running down her cheeks, and then attempted to speak. "T-Thank-"

She was quickly stopped when her brother placed a finger on her lips.

"I wouldn't want your voice to be permanently lost, so I would suggest waiting until a possible cure is made." The young man's expression was firm yet caring.

The little girl rubbed her arm in response, but nodded nonetheless.

"Himari, continue to look after her, if you please." Akira stood up from the hospital bed.

"Where are you going?" Himari asked, whilst transforming into her human form.

"It won't take too long, I'm just going to change clothes and pack some pillows." Her master answered, heading for the door.

The fairy couldn't help but worry. "Okay, but please be careful."

In response, the young man simply nodded at her before he left the hospital room.

However, even with her master's response, she was still worried for his safety.

 _"Why do I have a dreadful feeling about leaving him alone…?"_ Was the only thought that came to her mind.

She prayed that her worries would be all for naught and her master would fully return as promised.

* * *

Akira idly noted that nighttime came much faster than expected.

He continued to walk and walk, until he finally reached his house.

Judging from the overall silence, it seemed like Misaki and Zenitsu weren't home from work yet.

Well, he supposed that he would tell them once he returned to the hospital.

He grabbed the house's key from under the mat, and went on to unlock the door.

However, just as he unlocked the door to the house, a dreadful chill went down his spine.

What was that…?

_"Please…"_

The voice! He thought it had finally gone away…

_"Watch your surroundings…"_

What in Evalaris was it talking about?

_"Please… you are in danger…"_

Danger?

Honestly, why was he letting the voice get to him like this?

Akira shook his head, deciding to ignore the voice in his mind.

 _"Please be careful…"_ The voice sounded pleading.

Unfortunately, that plea went unheard as the young man ignored it and entered the house.

As he closed the door behind him, he was completely unaware that a nearby tree's shadow had suddenly begun to move.

…

_"What was that voice trying to tell me?"_

That thought echoed in his head over and over, as he turned off the shower.

He grabbed a small towel and quickly wiped himself dry, while eyeing a set of clothes neatly folded near the sink.

Afterwards, he began to put on the clothes, whilst looking at his own reflection in the mirror.

If someone outside of Sakuhana saw his appearance, all they would see was a young woman with long black hair and a slender figure.

Long black hair.

A slender figure.

While practically everyone in his hometown knew that he was male, those outside of said hometown would see a female, something that he's painfully aware of.

It made him feel sick to his very core.

After putting on a black hoodie, he looked at the very clothes he wore and how they accentuated his build.

Dark gray short shorts and black tights accommodated his slim and feminine legs, topped off with white sneakers.

The black belt wrapped around the shorts emphasized his unnaturally shapely hips.

A tight grey undershirt that gave the impression that he was a flat-chested girl.

All of them were accompanied by his equally feminine features, which made it easy for others to mistake him as female, unless they knew him personally.

He can admit that the clothes he regularly wears made him comfortable in their own way.

Deep down, however, he knew that it wasn't his true self…

Akira felt lucky to have friends and loved ones that never judged him by his appearance alone, but he still couldn't help but feel that he's lying to them somehow.

He turned on his mirror phone to check the time. 7:00.

Great. The time he spent mourning his appearance made him lose track of time.

No matter, at least it wasn't too late.

He quickly left the bathroom to go grab pillows and a few extra clothes from his own bedroom.

Unbeknownst to him, the shadow in the corner of the hallway moved and began to follow him.

Out of nowhere, another chill went down the young man’s spine as he entered his bedroom.

Huh…?

Akira looked around the room warily, as if trying to find the source of the sudden chill.

Was someone trying to break in? If that were the case, then-

_“Watch out!”_

His instincts went into overdrive as his body followed the voice’s yell, jumping to the side and landing on his rear, but then felt yet another chill throughout his entire body.

It turned out that the voice had saved him at the last second, as his silver eyes laid upon a mysterious shadowy figure, standing still in the spot where he used to be.

What… was… that…?

_“Escape!”_

Deciding to finally follow the voice’s words, he quickly stood up and made a mad dash to escape the room.

However, the figure didn’t give up easily and immediately chased after him.

In the midst of running, Akira turned around and saw the shadowy figure quickly catching up to him, much to his horror.

It was just like the nightmares he had.

_“The box…!”_

Hearing the voice’s sudden exclamation, he found himself suddenly dropping to the floor with a loud thud.

The figure had managed to grab one of his legs.

He gritted his teeth and attempted to kick the figure’s clawed hand off his leg, but the only thing it did was phase through it.

Just like in the nightmares, the figure was made entirely out of shadows.

Damn it!

With an aura of sadistic glee, the mysterious figure began to pull him towards it, aiming to torture him on the spot.

However, Akira refused to move and pushed himself to move forward, whilst reaching out for something inside his pockets.

In response, the figure extended its other arm and moved to grab his neck.

Before its arm could reach the young man’s neck, a bright flash of light was blasted at them, causing it to hiss in pain.

Thank Goddess that his mirror phone was extremely sturdy, as he had quickly turned on its flashlight and aimed it at the arm grabbing his leg.

Now free from the figure’s grip, he wasted no time standing up and ran forward once more before it regained its bearings.

_“The box…!”_

The voice’s repeated exclamation stopped him in his tracks.

The box…? Was it referring to the box from earlier?

_“Wield the content’s power…!”_

He wanted to doubt the voice’s words and simply run out of the house, but seeing that the mysterious figure had come close to killing him twice and showed no signs of stopping, he decided had no other choice.

Okay, where was the-

_“Mother’s… room…!”_

Misaki’s room?

A monstrous roar was heard throughout the house, indicating that the figure recovered from the sudden flash of light.

Screw it.

He made another mad dash, with it being in the direction of Misaki’s bedroom.

_“Closer now…”_

Akira reached the woman’s room and immediately closed the doors behind him, in the futile hopes of slowing the figure down.

Where was the box?

_“Right here…”_

He figured that the voice most likely came from the box itself, hence why it was getting louder.

Following the volume of where the voice was, his eyes saw a closet filled with her clothes, along with a familiar-looking box on the bottom.

_“Now…!”_

Another roar was heard outside. He had to act fast.

He ran towards the closet and placed his hands on the box, only to feel a sudden surge of magic throughout his body.

The young man gritted his teeth. What was this magic…!?

_“Find out…”_

After a moment of hesitation, he tore open the box and saw a revolver inside, loaded with twelve bullets and emitted a purplish blue aura.

That was it? What was he going to do with a gun!?

_“Yourself…”_

Yourself…? Did that mean-

The figure bursted into the room, looking pissed off beyond hell despite its lack of facial expressions.

Looks like he really did have no choice.

Akira took a deep breath and aimed the revolver to his head, as he attempted to stare down the mysterious being before him.

Was he going to die if he pulled the trigger? Would it even work? What if he-

_“Deep breaths… and fire…”_

How nice of the voice to tell him to calm down in a dire situation like this.

But nonetheless, the young man felt his finger twitch on the trigger. Was he really going to do this?

The figure growled and proceeded to lunge at him.

Swallowing his nervousness, he took in two quick breaths and…

**_BANG!_ **

Akira felt a rush of powerful magic running throughout his body, taking away any initial fear he had prior to that.

He smirked widely at the figure taking a huge step back in response.

This power… was amazing!

He hadn’t felt this alive in years!

As a blue aura began to surround him, his left eye shone a bright blue, cerulean flames blazing in clockwork patterns.

For a moment, he felt powerful and could take on anything.

_“Escape… now…!”_

The voice had snapped him out of his bout of superiority, only to see that the figure was frozen in place.

Huh, why was it just standing there?

That was when he realized that everything around him was frozen, as if time itself stopped entirely.

So that was it.

Upon shooting himself, he had frozen his perception of time, although he couldn’t help but feel that this magic was familiar.

_“Go… before it’s too late…!”_

Oh right, he needed to escape!

Wasting no time, he slipped right past the still-frozen figure and ran out of the room.

He would need to apologize to Misaki when all of this was over.

Eventually, he managed to run out of the house and took deep breaths once he was fully outside.

Before he knew it, time around him had returned to normal, as he felt the environment moving normally again.

His glowing blue eye had reverted to normal. A small bullet fell from the eye, Akira’s hand moving on instinct to catch it.

It seemed like the effect of the magic came from the bullet alone, on top of the effect itself being temporary.

He stared at the revolver on his right hand and then opened its chamber, revealing the eleven other bullets inside.

Interesting.

His brief moment of solace was interrupted when he heard the figure roar once more, as he turned and saw it quickly going out of the house, with the intent to kill.

Akira hastily loaded the bullet back into the chamber, and then pointed the revolver to his head-

**_CRACK_ **

The figure used one of its arms to grab his wrist and proceeded to slowly crush it, prompting the young man to drop the revolver before he could fire it.

Surprisingly enough, he didn’t seem to cry out in pain nor wince at his wrist being crushed, he merely glared at the shadowy being.

It was times like this where he was thankful for his Ikari infection, as it took away his sense of pain.

However, it didn’t deter the figure in the slightest, using its other arm to grab him by the neck.

Like with his wrist being crushed, he showed almost no reaction to being strangled as he was lifted off the ground.

The figure let go of his wrist and transformed its arm into multiple spikes, with the intent to kill him on the spot.

All the young man could do was weakly glare at it, as while he didn’t feel the pain of being strangled, he still felt its effects.

Before the figure would kill him, a bright flash of light came out of nowhere, causing it to scream out in pain as it dropped Akira to the ground.

“Master!” A familiar voice came to his ears.

He turned to the source and saw a woman with long silver hair, garbed in a white overcoat and short purple dress that complemented her mature figure, with a majestic pair of white crystal wings, wielding a long katana that shone a brilliant light.

The woman’s stoic expression immediately gave way into concern. “Master!”

It was Himari in her battle form.

“H-Himari…” Akira said weakly, rubbing his neck.

Recovering from the sudden attack, the figure growled loudly and changed its target, dashing forward to attack the fairy.

However, she merely remained in her spot and began to charge her katana with a brighter light, shifting into a defensive stance.

As soon as the monstrous shadow moved to grab her, Himari swiftly swung her katana and effortlessly cleaved the being in half.

It roared in pain once more before it disappeared into light, effectively ending its existence.

Once everything was clear, the fairy wasted no time flying towards her master.

Before the young man could say anything, he was pulled into a hug towards his fairy’s ample chest, as she was still in her battle form.

“H-Himari!” He exclaimed, his face turning as red as a tomato.

“I was so worried that you took too long to come, so I rushed over as fast I could!” Himari explained, as tears streamed down her cheeks, refusing to let go of her master.

Akira frowned. He didn’t want to see anyone cry because of him, especially the people he cared for.

“Himari, I’m okay now.” The young man reassured, his left hand reaching out to rub his fairy’s back as she continued to sob quietly.

“I-If I hadn’t arrived as fast I did, y-you would’ve-” She cut herself off when she saw her master’s soft expression.

“Himari, I’m fine.” He said gently, as he flashed a small smile. “Thank you.”

Blinking in response, she couldn’t help but chuckle as she wiped away her tears.

“I-I’m supposed to be the one protecting you, yet you’re the one comforting me.” The fairy smiled, sniffling lightly.

“There’s nothing wrong with that.” Akira let out his own chuckle. “We have each other’s backs, right?”

Himari made a soft sound of agreement, before transforming back into her petite fairy form.

“Let me heal your bruises.” She moved close to her master and raised her hands.

In an instant, the young man’s wrist and neck were restored, as if nothing had hurt them in the first place.

“Huh?” He placed a hand over his left eye, which had been covered by his bangs after using the revolver. “It looks like it wore off.”

The fairy’s eyes widened slightly upon hearing that. “Well, allow me to hide-”

“Akira! Himari!” Another familiar voice reached his ears.

Both master and fairy turned to the direction of the voice and saw Misaki running up to them, with a group of police cars following her from behind.

She wasted no time pulling the two into a tight hug, as police officers surrounded them.

“When I saw a beacon of light coming from the direction of our house, I had to bring my men with me just in case!” The woman tightened her hold on the young man in particular.

“Captain Satomi, permission to check out the house?” An officer with wolf ears asked.

“Permission granted.” Misaki nodded, still hugging the master and fairy pair.

The officer nodded back and called out to the others and their fairies. “Alright boys, search the house!”

“Takahashi, take these two to the hospital, if you please?” The purple-haired woman pulled away and stood up.

Another officer with dragon horns saluted in response. “Of course, captain.”

“Himari, let’s go.” Akira said, smiling at his fairy.

“Right behind you!” Himari smiled back, floating on top of her master’s head.

_“Be safe…”_

The voice came back to his head, but it sounded… happy?

Actually, he hadn’t picked up the revolver. He dropped it during the struggle against the figure.

He attempted to turn around and go look for it, but was stopped by the dragon-horned officer’s fairy.

“Come on, don’t you two have someone waiting at the hospital?”

Ayaka! How could he have forgotten…?

The young man couldn’t do anything else as he and his fairy were escorted to a police car.

Well, he can always go back for it tomorrow.

Misaki watched as the master and fairy pair were driven away to the hospital by Takahashi and his own fairy.

She smiled. At least Akira would get to spend the night with his sister.

“Captain, I found a gun!” A lizardman officer stepped forward, with the revolver in hand.

However, as soon as she laid her eyes on the revolver itself, her eyes widened in shock.

What was that weapon doing here!?

“Kuuga, where did you get that?” She asked in a low tone.

“Oh, uh, I just saw it laying over there.” The officer pointed at where he had found it.

The officer’s fairy piped up and said. “We found it on the spot where you hugged your kid.”

Before she could say anything in response, she heard someone calling for her from behind.

“Someone came by and told me to bring them to you!” Zenitsu yelled out, as a dark-haired woman with black horns closely followed him.

“Amelia Silverfletch?” Misaki widened her eyes at the sight of the horned woman.

The woman smiled and said. “Glad to see that you still recognize me, Satomi.”

“What are you doing here?” She questioned, crossing her arms. “More importantly, what are you here for?”

“Is your son around?” Amelia asked, her expression becoming neutral.

She had a bad feeling about this.

“No, why do you ask?” The purple-haired woman dreaded the answer.

“Well, I am here to pick him and three others up as they have been scouted by Simon Lapointe for Phoenix Academy of Lumiae.”

Upon hearing her response, Misaki felt her entire world slowly breaking apart.

* * *

**Time: 6: 45 AM**

**Location: Suelta - Sakuhana, Hinode**

**Date: Amour 27th, 2162**

* * *

It was early in the morning as Misaki made her way to the Sakuhana municipal hospital.

The nurse and her fairy immediately recognized the woman and allowed her to go directly to Ayaka’s hospital room.

As she reached the room and opened the door, she was met with Himari in her human form, sitting next to the two siblings on the bed.

“Good morning, Misaki.” The fairy greeted politely.

“I assume you stayed up all night?” She asked, noticing the dark bags under the blonde woman’s eyes.

Himari sighed and responded. “Of course, after what happened to Akira last night, I had to remain vigilant.”

Speaking of Akira, he was asleep in the bed with Ayaka brought close to his chest, as if to protect her from any potential danger.

Misaki smiled at the sight of the two siblings.

However, that smile was quickly replaced with a frown as she faced the human fairy.

“Himari.”

“Yes, what do you need?” Himari asked, paying full attention.

The purple-haired woman clenched her fists and was visibly angered, something that worried the fairy.

“Misaki, what’s wro-”

“Akira has been scouted for the Phoenix Kingdom.” She gritted out, her bangs covering her eyes.

Wait… did she mean-

“He’s what?” Himari asked, not wanting to believe what she had just heard.

There was no way that her master would end up having to-

“You heard me right.” Misaki looked away from the fairy. “He’s been specifically scouted by the headmaster himself.”

No… this can’t be happening…

Why?

Just how much does fate want her master to suffer even more…?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, this is another long one, which I apologize for, haha.
> 
> What do you all think of Akira as a protagonist so far? Tell me what your thoughts and suggestions in the comments below!


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